6 jobs from hell
by kilopi505
Summary: Most OC's who derail or interact with the plot of established shows are people who are familiar with the series or are genre savvy. How will things turn out if the OC's are not even familiar with the media of the setting? Please read and think about it.
1. Meeting a Pagan goddess in Buckhorn, KY

Chapter 1

'Herbert Ward. Resident of Buckhorn, Kentucky.

Born January 3, 1949.

Died April 1, 2007 of Unknown causes.

He will be missed.'

This...is what I imagine my epitaph is going to be after the kids and the grandkids are done with it.

In the meantime, I have to attend to the issue at hand: The trespasser I am confronting in the woods behind my home appears to be a pissed off supernatural being, who was ranting about my granddaughters' offense against her.

Let me repeat that in more emphatic terms.

I AM IN FRONT OF A PISSED OFF FEMALE SUPERNATURAL BEING WHO WAS RANTING IN ANGER ABOUT MY OFFSPRING WITH NO COVER IN SIGHT, AND NO WEAPON IN HAND.

This is definitely...the worst mistake I have ever made in a supernatural encounter, next to discovering that lost temple in Cambodia while I was separated from my unit.

'Damn zombies, damn demons, and God bless the jubilant, thankful VC's that let me go free after I managed to kill everything in the temple. Wonder if they are still ali-'

I am brought back to the present when the girl, light coming out from her eyes, suddenly grabs my shirt and brings my face down near hers and asks, in a voice that shakes my bones (No, I did feel my entire body vibrate) "Now do you understand why I am making your grandchildren's lives miserable?"

I deadpan.

"Because they made you a laughingstock in front of most of the supernatural world, to the point that trickster deities and long dead Greek comedians were using you and them as the subject for new jokes, and thus offended you so much you have to keep messing with their lives for half a year? Yeah, I think I understand." Then I go back into a confrontational tone of voice "But listen here kid-"

The girl interrupts me, returning to a normal human voice. "Do I look like a kid to you?"

"…You have a teenager's body right now. Anyways, back to what I was saying, this isn't productive. If you have a problem with them, go talk it out with them. Resolve your problems and finish this whole mess. This is just a waste of time for everyone concerned."

The girl let go of me, steps back and crosses her arms. This is the first time I see her clearly, since a while ago both of our tempers were very hot, which is…not conducive for proper conversation.

She is a young (probably around 20 or so), dark and waist length haired girl dressed in a white t-shirt with the words "AnimeFest 2006" printed on it and blue jeans you could find in any department store. The only thing different about her looks compared to any other girl her age in the county, is that she is wearing sandals made of…what looks like rope, with the blue jeans.

That and she's glowing from the inside in a way that does not feel like any kind of normal light I had ever seen, and at the same time she is not glowing.

"Sorry…gramps. I just don't trust myself to not slap them silly if I do talk to them. Besides, it's worth it, believe me, making their lives miserable is really worth it."

I look at the…SMILING (?!) girl in her by now normal eyes, wondering what the hell is wrong with her to look so happy talking about messing up somebody else's life. I then remember my grandmother's fairy tales.

The original ones, not the watered down versions Walt Disney are turning into happy, family movies.

I remember that those who aren't human have their own values. Heck, even the Vietnamese have different values, and they are fellow humans. And I also remember the nut jobs of the Greek pantheon from high school classes. So I decide to change tactics.

"Look. I'm trying to be fair here. I accept that you have the right to be compensated for the humiliation, so can we just have a settlement?" I pause for a little bit, suddenly having thought of something."Do you know what a settlement is in the first place?"

"Oh, of course I know what a settlement is. I even know what to use to sue your granddaughters in court. I could sue them for negligent infliction of Emotional Distress, if I were a human. Unfortunately, human courts only deal with humans. And you don't have anything that could compensate me."

"Err…money?"

"I am the Irish goddess of prosperity, as well as two other things. I donate PURE GOLD to you humans. Try again."  
>I am silent.<p>

I…didn't know what to do, since usually, if not all, settlements and litigation were ended with someone paying money. If this…'goddess' doesn't want money…my poor granddaughters are going to get killed if this continues.

Then I get an idea.

"Hey, do you have any debts or favors you owe anyone? How about I help you with those if you promise to let this vendetta against my granddaughters go away?"

Now, the girl blinks, and looks at me like I just said something stupid.

She asks "You have a death wish? If you are Chu Chulainn, sure, why not? If you are 30 years old or younger, plausible. At your age? You'll get a heart attack first before finishing whatever I send you to do. I don't think so." Then she shakes her head in negation.

"But you said you are the 'goddess' of prosperity" I counter. "'Happiness' and 'Health' are also related to that word, isn't it?"

"Ok, now you are telling me how to do my job?"

"It's magic. You claim to be a goddess. What's so hard with making sure I don't have a heart attack?"

The girl looks to the left, thinking hard about something. It is silent for…a while, I guess. Then she starts tapping her foot on the grass, still thinking about something. Then the tapping stops, and the girl looks back at me, with a face that just reeks of curiosity.

"Can you fight? Been in any fight at all?"

"Kid, I am a Vietnam veteran. I was at Saigon with the 25th during Tet. Even after all these years, I do still remember how to fight, it's just…I don't practice anymore." I chuckle, and then stop with a smile on my face.

I don't know why, but my guts are telling me something is going to go a little bit wrong.

"Good. Practice again. Some of the jobs could get quite dangerous." At the word 'dangerous', I lost the smile at my face at this bit of information. She faces away from me, and walks forward to a… an oval wall of white light, which doesn't hurt the eye. She continues talking.

"I'll contact you about two weeks from now. It will be through any reflective surface. But don't worry; I will give advance warning so you don't get a sudden heart attack seeing me suddenly in the mirror. Oh, before I forgot," And she turned her head sideways to look at me "The name's Annan. Yours?"

"Ward. Herbert Ward" I respond in the same voice that I heard get used in one of those James Bond films, getting a need to get back at her in some way. The girl winces.

Well, I am glad to see HER getting uncomfortable.

She said "That is SO not cool. Later, Mr. Ward." And she steps through the wall of light, and it disappears.

I am left alone in the forest behind my home.


	2. Naughty grandkids, no more beer for you

Chapter 2

Moments after that strange confrontation, I clear my mind of all other thoughts and go back into the house.

The house is a small, rectangular, one story log cabin 120 sq. meters in size with only 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and dining area, and a bathroom. Originally built a year before the war of 1812, it has gone through renovations a few times, the last one done by me after my stint in Vietnam to keep the house standing and keep it up to date somehow with the modern world.

I go into the cooking and dining area, open the refrigerator, and take out a can of Coors. I then pull the tab off and drink from it, sitting down in one of the chairs and look out the windows, contemplating my next move.

-

It is 3 hours after the FUBAR with the kid. By now, the reasons for the FUBAR in the back of the house are here, cooking the dinner at the stove and regaling me with their stories of the day, while there I was, letting their words go in one ear and out the next, thinking of a way to ask for the reason as to why did they piss off some Irish deity.

The one minding the pot is Regina Ward. She is my elder granddaughter, 19 years old, has black, shoulder length hair, and a little bit of fat…not that it detracts anything from her physically. Her place of residence is in Hazard, where my son and his wife moved to after being married 20 years ago. She is a graduate of Human Services from HCTC down there in Hazard, and was employed with a local NGO.

The one taking drinks from the refrigerator is Annie Walker. She is my younger granddaughter, has long, brunette hair, and is a very beautiful girl, telling me stories about the many boys that are trying to ask her to a date in her high school. Her place of residence is at Louisville, where my daughter's husband lives. She is currently 16 years old and is a 10th grade student at Louisville Collegiate School.

My mind is suddenly pulled back to the present when I hear Regina telling me about some freaky event in the convenience store in Buckhorn where she and Annie are currently working at part time.

"And then when I was about to open the cash register, the machine suddenly refused to open. The customer I was talking to refused to leave without the change and receipt. And the other people in line started complaining. I called the manager to ask for help in making the clunky machine work, but it just won't open."

"What happened next, Regina?" Regina looks back to me and said.

"Well, in the end, almost all the customers left the shopping carts full of goods on their own and left irritated, while the manager closed the store and gave the one I was going to give the change to the same amount of money from his own pocket. And there I was standing there embarrassed for all the trouble I caused."

"Regina, that is not your fault," Annie said while pouring milk into 3 mugs. "The manager said it could happen to anyone. It's just bad luck."

"But that is the point," and Regina started waving one of her arms in a lecturing mode "If only one unlucky thing happened to us, I'll take it as just bad luck. But one bad thing happening after the other, for 6 consecutive months? That's not bad luck. Someone cursed us. Someone really, really good at this kind of thing cursed us, and what's worse, we don't know who to even make amends to!" Regina wails in the end, by now completely turning her back on the stove.

"Regina, just curious, but what sort of things happened to you and Annie? All I know is that you have a series of unrelenting bad events that are steadily going worse happening to you kids. And Regina, please look at the pot, not at me."

The two girls look at each other, and starts telling me one story after another. At first I was thinking 'that's hilarious'. Then as time went on, as the stew was poured into bowls, and as the stew and the drinks are finished, I slowly get more and more horrified by the unfortunate crap hitting them once a day. By the time the girls finished washing the dishes and sat down at the table, I am thinking that compared to them, my time in Vietnam is just being stuck in rush hour.

I mean… at least the ones trying to kill me are humans.

They had electrical appliances suddenly deciding to electrocute them, random birds falling from the sky (The Hazard Herald reported that one 2 months ago, Annie told me), cargo falling FROM FedEx planes flying overhead (LCS was asking very pointed questions at FedEx for that one, besides the usual government agencies raising hell every time something that flies messes up), brakes failing every time they drive a car themselves no matter how often they go to a mechanic (Regina called 911 for help at those times. May God bless the LMPD)

And those are only the more lethal ones. I must not forget to mention the irritating and demoralizing ones, like how Annie's grades at school are steadily going down because of test papers getting lost in transit or in freaky accidents (I never thought that a teacher will say to their student that their test paper was ripped to pieces by a dog, since it usually is the other way around. The only difference from the cliché is it was a rabid and starving dog infected with rabies, and was causing havoc on LCS property until the dogcatcher caught it).

Or how traffic jams suddenly appear when Annie is on the way to school, no matter how early she gets out of home (She finally resorted to using a bicycle to travel all the way to school. Less mechanical malfunctions to worry about)  
>Or how Regina was fired from her job by the local NGO because thousands of dollars of equipment keep getting broken when she touches it, a reason that I keep finding to be ridiculous.<p>

Is that even a justifiable reason for firing someone?

And the worst event, the one that really sealed the deal for my children and made them send Annie and Regina here, was when they are together celebrating something I have no idea about at a family restaurant in Louisville. Suddenly a bar brawl happened in the restaurant.

How in God's name can a bar brawl happen in a freaking FAMILY RESTAURANT?

And I may never have been in a bar brawl, but how on Earth can several drunk brawlers mistake the girls for the ones that punched them, and proceed to give them, according to Annie's friend since the girls are knocked out, 'an almighty KO punch that belongs more to Manny Pacquiao than to a drunk patron'. In fact, there is just no other explanation, from the witnesses, the girls, and even the drunks themselves, for how the girls got in the line of fire, and in THAT kind of fire, so suddenly other than bad luck.

After that last story, the cabin is silent for some time. I look at the girls. Both of them look pretty traumatized by their experiences.

I am really tempted to just stop here, but I want them to at least remember why the curse started, so that when they learn about the cause, they could try to find another way of appeasing the Irish kid since right now, I am not very sure if I can finish the deal in one piece. So I go on.

"Regina, you think someone cursed you girls. Tell me, since you are the only one in the family dabbling with those Neo-pagans, what have you two done to get this hypothetical someone to curse you?"

Regina looked thoughtful for a while, then was about to shrug when she stopped in the middle of the action, eyes looking at the bottle of milk on the table. Her face went blank for a while, and then she looks at Annie, who looked on curiously.

When Annie saw this, her face suddenly fills with suspicion and asks Regina.

"Dear cousin, do you have something we, or more importantly, I, should know about?"

Regina winces and said "I think I have some ideas." My world stops for a moment at the word 'ideas'.

If I remember correctly from my grade school years, adding an 's' to a noun that doesn't have one in the singular form indicates that the plural form is being used. Combine that with the word 'some' and that means...more than one.

"Kid, what the HELL are you doing in that religion of yours?!" I shout at Regina. Annie just sits there glaring at her older cousin. I continue shouting "And how the hell did you get that many people angry at you?"

Regina winces again and said "I...don't know. For some reason I just rub some people the wrong way. Unfortunately, these people in the movement I am rubbing the wrong way...are some of the more knowledgeable and older ones, not to mention dangerous."

"Dangerous." Annie deadpan. "Dangerous as in those Thugee cults you see in the movies?"

"No, not that kind of dangerous. These people are dangerous because they are the real deal. They have…power. Even other neo-pagans who have their own...connection…with who and what we worship are wary of them."  
>Silence...<p>

Annie is the first to do something. She leaves the table, makes a 'follow me gesture' to Regina, and says goodnight to me. Regina follows after her cousin, also saying a goodnight, and closed the door to their room.

I was left alone on the table, looking at the door of their room.

I sigh.

Great. They are screwed. I am screwed. Even if I manage to appease the Irish goddess, it looks like there is a possible waiting line of other people waiting for their own chance to make my granddaughters' day lousy.

Hmm...

Next time I see the Irish girl, maybe I could add something to the contract?


	3. Buying a gun in Versailles, KY

Chapter 3

It is the morning of April 2, 2007. The sun is shining brightly, the air is so clean and cool, the food in front of me looks as delicious as usual when my granddaughters are the ones who made them, and the only thing spoiling this wonderful morning are my two granddaughters.

The two normally talkative girls are silent today. Looking at their faces, I see that they are deep in their own worlds. They are barely looking at each other or at me for that matter. And they have not touched their own food yet.

While I understand that they are...depressed with their current situation, I have no intention of letting breakfast and our collective morale (in that order) be ruined by this depressing silence.

"The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, breakfast is in front of us, and we are all still alive. So girls, stop being such a downer on this day and eat! You girls all have time to be depressed later, if you really want to continue doing so."

The girls look up at me with incredulous looks on their faces, then at each other, and they went back to their plates. They start eating, showing more life in them than a while before.

'Nice job Herbert.'

-

After breakfast was finished and the dishes were cleaned and put away, I just sat there with the by now mildly warm cup of milk in front of me, watching the girls make some last minute preparations, like Annie looking for her cellphone, or Regina applying baby powder of her face and neck. I feel better now, seeing my two cute granddaughters having more life in them than before breakfast.

After finishing their preparations, the girls hugged me and then said their goodbyes. When they were about to go out the door, I quickly ask them to stop because I am going to tell them something.

"Girls, I just got some errands that might cause me to be away from home starting from today, so please don't be surprised when if you went home I am not here. Ok girls, stay safe." I finish, and then I empty my glass of milk in a few gulps.

Regina didn't let it go at that. She asks me suspiciously "What errands? And what kind of errands might get you to stay away from home?"

I look at her, thinks for a moment for an imaginary job, and then I thought it is better to use both truth and lies.  
>"Well, I got invited by some friends from way back in Vietnam to a hunt in Alaska. It is going to be a reunion of our unit, whoever is still alive, from Saigon. So, here I am going to the nearest gym to get myself up to a better physical state. Then I also got to buy a new gun."<p>

Annie is the one who asks this time. "What's wrong with the Winchester? You know, the one you just fired at the shooting range a week ago?" She points and looks up at one of the two rifles that are mounted above the door.  
>Like Annie said, one of the guns is a Winchester Model 1894 that I bought in '72, after I had left the army. The other one is the family heirloom, nicknamed 'Annie', a constantly, lovingly and almost religiously maintained Kentucky Rifle that has been in the family ever since my great-great grandfather commissioned its making a few months before joining the militia and going off with Jackson's army in the War of then, the gun has been used constantly in every military and violent action that my ancestors participated in as a sniper rifle all the way until the Civil then on, it has onlybeen on display above the door.<p>

Annie looks back at me and waits for my answer.

"Well, you see we are going Grizzly bear hunting. As much as I would like to, you don't bring a small caliber gun to that kind of hunt. So…I have to buy a bigger and more powerful rifle."

Annie frowns at me and then said "Well, if that is what you old guys really want, then I can't stop you. But I still protest the unreasonable killing of animals that has not attacked a human, not to mention you are 58 years old. See you later grandpa." She then turns around and stop. Curious about what made her stop, I looked over her shoulder and see something I don't see every day.

Regina is kneeling on the ground laughing, only managing to keep it silent by covering her mouth with one hand. One moment she would seem to be finished laughing, then the next moment another bout of laughing started. But when she looked in our direction, she gave up trying to conceal her laughs and just laughed out loud. I and Annie look at each other, both clueless on what Regina thinks is so funny. Then we approach her.

"Reg, what's so funny?" Annie asks. By now, Regina's laughs are starting to die out. A moment later, she got it under control. She then answers "When grandpa said he is going to go training, something funny came into mind. I imagined him wearing Rocky Balboa's clothes, with the theme song playing out loudly in the background while he is doing his training stuff."

I thought about what Regina said.

There I am, dressed in a white sweater and jogging pants with 'Eye of the Tiger' playing in the background, jogging in the streets and up the mountains shadow boxing all the way, hitting a punching bag as fast and as hard as I can, then me holding a training rifle I borrowed from the ROTC and practicing my bayonet drill. Then all of a sudden the sirens of an ambulance intruded into the scene, and then the image of orderlies carrying my limp body into the ambulance and sped off into the distance, with the same song still playing in the background came to me.

Both I and Annie snicker at that, for different reasons I am certain. Then I remind the girls that they have a job, and ought to go there before they become tardy for work. The girls took one look at their watches, yip, and quickly run to their bikes in the garage, mounting them and then took off down the road with both girls waving back at me.

I stand in the same position watching the bikes go along the road towards the convenience store at the interstate road.

When they moved out of view behind the hills, I turned back to the house and walks in, checking to see if there are any chores left to do before I buy my new gun. Seeing that everything has already been finished yesterday, I take my wallet and locked up the house.

-

I step down from the bus and look at the street signs, trying to findmy bearings and occasionally looking at the piece of paper where the address of the gun shop I was referred to, by my nearest neighbor is , I found the street sign which says 'Lexington Street.'

I quickly give up on finding the place by myself since I am already lost the first moment I got here in Versailles so I look around for people to ask. Seeing a clean shaven young man in a business suit, I approach him and asked if he knows the address on the paper.

The man apologizes, saying that he is only here in Versailles for business purposes, and is not familiar with the city. Saying it is alright, I move away from the man, looking for another person to ask when somebody asks me if I was lost.  
>Looking at the speaker, I see it is an Indian girl dressed in one of those Indian looking down the impolite urge to ask what is an Indian doing all the way up here in Kentucky, I answer back, that yes I am lost. Then I show her the address of the gun store. She looks at it, then gives it back and said "Please follow me sir. The store is just a short walk away." And I follow.<p>

For the next few minutes, we talk about various everyday topics while she is leading me to the store. I learn that the name of the Indian girl is Ratri and she is here straight from India on a business trip.

Ratri is a young, beautiful girl with long black hair and light brown skin that just seems to shine naturally. She is dressed in one of them famous Indian dresses and is also bedecked in more gold jewelry (a nose plug, earrings, a ring on each finger except for the thumbs, bracelet on each arm and two necklaces) than I know Mary, my deceased wife, ever possessed in all our years together (just our wedding rings and the engagement ring). Which made me think about the sensibility of wearing all those gold accessories while one is walking in the middle of a city (albeit a small one). Thankfully, nobody else on the sidewalk is looking at the both of us.

Then Ratri asks me why I need to buy a gun. I tell her that my granddaughters have some problems pestering them and that I could wave those problems away by doing some jobs for this crazy Irish chick which I was warned could unfortunately end in violence, so I kind of needed the right guns for the job. She nods, blink, and stop walking, turning to me with an incredulous expression and surprises me with her next words.

"I'm sorry, but did you just make a contract with Annan, Mr. Ward? Oh no…that is very bad, sir."

I blink, and then stop walking. When did I tell her Annan's name? And now that I think about it…the pedestrians are not ignoring us out of being polite to strangers. It's more like they seem to be unaware of our very existence.

Suspicions aroused and getting ready for a fight, I am about to ask her how does she know the Irish girl's name when Ratri snaps her fingers, and everything around us turns as dark as the night…for a moment.


	4. Ratri the nice, Indian goddess

Chapter 4

The darkness lifts and I see that I am back home, in front of the house.

I blink once.

Twice.

At that moment I think I must have been disoriented, saying these next words from out of nowhere.

"Ratri, you owe me a hundred dollars for what you just did."

Ratri blinks, and then has an expression on her face that just plainly says 'What'?

I continue talking.

"Well, you see the fare from here to Louisville is around a hundred dollars by bus. And" I looked at my wristwatch "The next bus coming to Buckhorn and going to northern Kentucky is around an hour from now. So…you getting us here in front of my house without any guns bought is a hundred dollars and two hours of precious time wasted."

Ratri blushes at her mistake and then takes a wallet from one of her pockets, counting off some bills from some other country, and then hands them over to me.

"Umm…sorry about that Mr. Ward. Here, this is the Indian equivalent of one and a half hundred dollars. All you have to do is go to a money changer to have it converted to dollars."

"Thanks Ratri. Now…you were saying?" I steer the conversation back to what she was talking about a while ago.  
>"Well…I am here to apologize for the actions of my friend. Right now me and another one of our little club of goddesses are trying our best to calm her down. But it's very challenging to do so when the botched…'prayer'…your grand daughters made while deeply inebriated is the latest inspiration of many in the supernatural world and the mortal afterlives who just won't stop making jokes referring to it."<p>

'I swear from this moment on, those girls are never getting any alcohol ever again, not on my watch'

Making that promise to myself, I miss parts of what Ratri said next so when she pauses for a breath, I interrupt and invite her to continue the conversation inside my house.

She accepts my invitation and goes after me inside the house.

After I show her to the dining table, I went to the refrigerator and take a bottle of milk to offer to her as a guest. After she accepts it, I sit down at the table and continue the conversation from where she last stopped.

"So Ratri, I appreciate your sincerity and I thank you for your effort in trying to calm down Annan and lifting off her curse from my granddaughters."

"Actually..." Ratri slowly says, like she is bringing bad news.

"I'm sorry Mr. Ward, but all I could do for now is lessen the severity of the curse. If I break it now, Annan could just curse your granddaughters again, and maybe make it nastier this time around. We just have to wait until she calms down and is in a mood to forgive before we can ask her to take away the curse."

Well, that is one thing off my chest.

Then I remember the other people that my granddaughter supposedly pissed off. I talk about my other concern just as the Indian girl was about to say something.

"Umm…Ratri, can you also do something about another problem that concerns my granddaughters?" At her curious and patient look, I explain that some neo-pagans are very angry with Regina for some reason she doesn't know. Ratri is momentarily lost in thought, then she drinks the rest of the milk in the bottle. After finishing it, she puts it down on the table and then started to speak.

"Mr. Ward, I am not sure how to deal with that one. You have to understand that in the supernatural world, not everybody knows everyone else even after all this time. And the neo-pagan worshippers…they are…unusual. Some of them might worship gods I know, or acquainted with but many of them also either worship a mother goddess or nature in general, in which case I am not sure who to talk to since there are so many of us who can claim that title or jurisdiction, or they outright invent themselves new spirits to worship who either don't exist, or who are just newcomers in my world.

Realistically, all I could advise is that your granddaughter must talk and reconcile with those who she had pissed off."

"Dang…well, can you do anything so that anyone who is asked to curse them has to talk it out with you first?"

"Do you mean put them under my protection? Well…I am an old goddess who doesn't have much of her powers anymore and is mostly unknown by mortals nowadays…Newcomers and younger gods either ignore the old, less known and relatively powerless ones or are disrespectful to those elders. But…alright, I will temporarily take them under my protection in case someone else does try to curse them. But if you want really solid protection, it could also be done by more Christian activities such as praying."

I raise my eyebrows at this, not expecting a pagan Indian goddess to recommend praying to God. Ratri explains further upon seeing my surprise.

"Well, your YHWH, Allah or just plain God is someone us other gods don't really like to talk about, especially not after the things that were pulled off against the Egyptians during the Exodus. But that one is content to let us coexist with it, ever since the eldest of us gods woke up and that being is in front of them smiling and welcoming them into existence."

I blink. And then blink once more.

'Well…that answers that question of whether God is real'

"Now, if there are no other concerns about your granddaughters Mr. Ward, I want to ask one question before I proceed about YOUR trouble now."

This day seems to be one full of meaningful blinks.

"What trouble? Hold on...you go first Ratri."

"How did you catch Annan in the first place? She said she was hidden with magic when all of a sudden you kicked her from behind and demanded a reason for stalking your granddaughters."

"If by hiding you mean crouching behind some bushes. I didn't see anything magical at that point in time."

Ratri looks at me with surprise.

"Really? Well how did you come behind her?"

"Would you believe that I was chasing a handkerchief blown by a very strong wind?"

"...just dried from the clothesline?"

"Yes."

Ratri groaned.

"That happened to someone I know...but down the hill?"

"Every time I was about to pick it up, dust blows in my eyes and the next thing I knew it was further down the path."

"The path...that is in the opposite direction from where Annan is hiding."

"When I finally got the handkerchief I was already at the down the hill and on the other side of it, away from the pathway. So rather than circle all the way around the hill again, I climbed up."

"Circling around is harder than climbing up?" she asks, incredulously.

"The hillside is a gently sloped one." I defend my point of view.

I will not admit that I climbed up because I suddenly felt like it.

No I won't.

"And when you found her, why did you kick her and ask if she is stalking your granddaughters? She could just be spying on your house."

"I...honestly, when I saw her I just knew that she is stalking them. And before I knew it, I had already kicked her and then challenged her."

Looking back at those moments...it was like something compelled me to do those actions. And that is what led the kid to rant at me while holding me by the collar.

And then I felt a compulsion to just listen to her, instead of trying to fight my way out of her grip.

"Is there anything else?" I ask, wanting to get back to my 'trouble.'

"None. Going back to you, you said you made a contract with Annan to make her lift her curse from your granddaughters. As a result, despite the fact that me and my friend are trying to lift the curse on your granddaughters, you are still required to finish that contract with Annan whether the curse gets lifted or not."

Oh.

That really sucks.

"Umm…can I get it cancel-"Ratri immediately interrupts me.

"Trying to break a contract is a pretty bad idea Mr. Ward. You see, when we supernatural beings make a promise, an oath or a contract, we and the other party are bound to do as we have promised. If not…well…bad things happen."  
>"Bad things?" I ask with a curious tone.<p>

"Bad things you don't want to know and I don't want to remember. Even the Bible says something to that kind of effect."  
>Even God said it is bad to break a promise?<p>

I now quickly think back to the moment me and Annan made our promise, trying to find a loophole somewhere.  
>"How about if I did not actually say I would do it? Annan and me didn't say we have a contract. She just asked me if I can fight, I said yes, and she said good, she has some jobs for…me…" I slowly stop speaking upon seeing the Indian girl's sad face.<p>

"Mr. Ward, that counts as an implicit agreement, which still validates that as a contract"

I feel very dismayed by this turn of events. Luckily, Ratri is still not finished explaining.

"Don't worry Mr. Ward. There is a way we could use to solve the problem with the contract. All you have to do is think like a lawyer and be technical about fulfilling the contract, which is alright because ever since the turn of the 19th century, most of the contracts in the world are being interpreted that way. But there is a condition. The other party has to agree that the contract is still being fulfilled despite the different interpretation by one of the parties."

"So all I have to do is get Annan to agree to a different interpretation of the contract?" I feel a big, fat ray of hope beaming down on me from above at this point. "Well…how do I contact her? I don't want to get in the middle of a fight just to get her debts paid."

"Well…first off you have to tell me what is it you want to interpret in a different way, and then I will tell it to her."  
>"All I want is to do a fixed number of favors and debts for Annan, and that they must not be in any way dangerous to me or bring me trouble after all this is over."<p>

Ratri nods. Suddenly the sound of a ringing phone interrupts us.

I look at my wall phone located beside my bedroom's door, but the ringing isn't coming from that quarter. Nor did it come from my cell phone, which I had put in silent and vibrating mode. Motion from the edge of my vision had me turning to Ratri…holding a cell phone and about to answer the call.

Ratri notices my expression and asks "What is it?"

"You have a cell phone?"

She sighed and then replies "Just because I am an old goddess from before the Jews exile to Babylon doesn't mean I don't keep up with and use modern technology. It is the same thing with Annan and Daesun, my other friend."

She answered her cell phone and talk in what I guess might be Indian. She listens for a few seconds, and then surprises me with an exclamation in Indian that feels to me like 'What'. For the next few minutes, she is constantly wide-eyed and surprised at what she is hearing from her cell phone and keep looking at me from time to time.

When the phone call finished, Ratri looked at me a little sadly and tells me that she has some good news and some bad news. I ask her to go on with some trepidation.

"The good news Mr. Ward, is that Annan doesn't care about me tinkering around with the curse she put on your granddaughters, provided that I don't completely break it. She said she is the one who will break it, as her part of the contract."

My hopeful feelings…started melting like ice cream when I heard the word 'contract'.

"Which leads me to the bad news. She wants you to do your part of the contract, and worse: You are definitely going to get into a fight wherever she is going to pay her debts, of which she said will be 6 favors all in all."

I am silent for a few seconds. Then I say what is on my mind.

"Well…better prepare my last will then. I doubt I can still move or fight like I used to back in Vietnam, never mind the fact that it will be 6 different situations I had to fight through." And then I chuckle in a morbid fashion.

"Don't be too downhearted Mr. Ward. Annan said that she will ensure that you will not die on the job and nothing comes after it. And believe it or not, she is asking me and Daesun to help her with her sudden bout of insanity in paying off her debts and favors. So, me and Daesun are also going to help make sure that you do not die."

I look up at heaven, in this case, the ceiling of my own home, wondering if that is supposed to reassure me, and then I close my eyes and sigh. I figure that I really have no other choice other than to put my life in the hands of divine intervention, preferably God.

I ask Ratri. "If I may ask, what are these measures that would let me live through what seems to be something as dangerous as my most violent encounters during the Vietnam War? Because while I am a healthy man, please don't forget that I am already 58 years old, and while I am still a good shot, I have not pointed a gun at another human being since 1970."

"The way Annan explained things to me over the phone, she is choosing people she owes debts to who are asking for favors that she is sure a human being could do for her. And the other thing is, Annan said that she will give you the necessary equipment and that all of us will have one of our own followers who are in the afterlife help you in the process."

The Irish girl is the one to give me the weapons? And companions in hardship…well, as long as those companions can pull their own weight.

"Not to sound rude, but what is her idea of weapons? Because if it is a magical sword…"

"Oh Mr. Ward, that is very silly. Believe it or not, the supernatural world does keep up with current events, although it is more of watching CNN or reading the New York Times."

"And what does that have to do with weapons?" I couldn't resist asking.

"Well, it means we know about guns and how effective they are, even though most gods and spirits prefer to do things the old fashioned way. Besides, you are lucky that you encountered our little club of goddesses instead of anyone else."

"What is your club about and what is its relation to whatever I am going to be armed with?" I ask, bewildered by this…seemingly unrelated reason.

"Well…it is called the 'Modern Human Culture Appreciation club'. " She admits with a sheepish expression.

I blink again, thought for a while, and then I nod.

It is impossible not to know of what I might need if you are someone who claims to study 'Modern' culture. I'm quite sure that includes war.

Ratri then said that she believes that she has nothing more to talk about concerning me and will be there beside Annan when she fetches me around 13 days from now. We stand up from the table and walk away from it.

As I am about to show her out the door she happens to look at the mounted guns above the doorway. She immediately stops to gaze in…wonder, I think.

I ask her what is she looking at the guns for. She looks down at me and then reply, while her hand is pointing at one of them, "I think I know the perfect gun we could use as your weapon."

I look at where she is pointing, wondering what is she going to do with the Winchester...and then I notice she is not pointing at the Winchester in the first place.

She is pointing at 'Annie'.

I look down at her, incredulous at her statement that I would use my family heirloom, not to mention an antique, well preserved muzzle loader as my gun. Seeing my expression, Ratri quickly explains.

"Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but there are several reasons why I think it is a good weapon for your use in the contract. One: While there are a lot of human made melee weapons that have become magical, or became supernaturally special due to several reasons, it is rare for any kind of GUN to achieve that, but here I am looking at a gun that is spiritually tied to your family and to the land itself and is the oldest yet still functional gun I have ever seen. A gun like this is quite easy to upgrade with magic, and the more special the gun is, the more magic that could be applied to it."

"You are going to mess with my family heirloom?! What if you broke it or something?! And can you even put it back to normal once you mess with 'Annie'?"

"You don't have to worry about it breaking from magic. And it is easy to uninstall the magic one applies to any weapon, provided the one doing the uninstalling is the caster of the magic in the first place."

Still not convinced, I ask her what is the other reason.

"The way I see it, you will not need a high rate of fire for the jobs. You will need more…penetrating power and damage with every shot you make. Besides, included in the magical spells I was thinking of putting on the Kentucky Rifle is one that will pretty much give you infinite, magical ammunition. All you have to do is pull back the cock of the gun and the gun is instantly reloaded."

I look at 'Annie', then back at the Indian girl, thinking about what she is saying.

Do I need a normal M-16 or a magical Kentucky Rifle if I am gonnahave to get in a fight with some weird opponents?


	5. Adventure, here I come

Chapter 5

Today is the morning of April 14, the day when the Irish girl and Ratri will fetch me for this…adventure.

I am excited, I hate to admit. I mean…when was the last time I ever went out of Kentucky? Let me see…

It was when Mary was still alive, and we went to see the sights and sounds of New York City. Unfortunately, the date happened to be September 11, 2001, so…pretty bad memory all in all. It was even the reason why Mary died, according to the doctor, inhaling all that nasty stuff in the dust cloud and giving her breathing complications.

'At least Mary died in her sleep, thank you God. No more hacking coughs and breathing problems for my dear wife to worry about up there in heaven'

Anyways, yeah, it is the first time in quite a while, and even the fact that I am going into certain danger is just adding to the thrill that I am feeling.

"Grandpa, have you packed away everything you might need for your hunting trip?" Regina calls out to me from outside the home. I turn away from the calendar towards the table to see if I had gathered everything I might need for a trip in order.

'Hmm…the SKS with a bayonet is looking good…all 20 clips are fully loaded…two 640rd. boxes of 7.62 by 39 bullets…my M7 bayonet I had from Vietnam and it's sheathe…there's the lighter…a SureFireflashlight and a box of batteries from the same company…5 cans of sardines…a 1 liter water bottle…2 DBDU and 2 M81 BDU, all military surplus…two changes of underwear…two pairs of socks…a poncho…a snorkel parka… a Gore-Tex bivouac sack and finally…'

I stop my thoughts and look up at the mounts above the door

'the replica of 'Annie' that Ratri made up while I lent it to her. Check'

Good.

Seeing that I have all I could need for an extended adventure besides what those goddesses would provide me, and that everything at home seems to be in order, I quickly pack everything else except the SKS into the backpack, carry the backpack and the rifle on my shoulders and then walk out of the door.

Annie and Regina were both there waiting for me to come out, dressed in quite pretty clothes. It just so happens that both Regina and Annie are also going out this same day to Louisville, to visit Annie's parents. Regina also said that she plans to visit her coven at the same time to fix her ties with those she had pissed off.

"Well girls, are you both sure you got everything you need for your trip to Louisville? No cell phones or wallets forgotten?"

"Yes grandpa." Both girls chorus like little angels with smiling faces.

"Good. And don't forget to lock the house up, alright? Be careful on your way to Louisville girls. And finally, say hello to Fiona and Arnold for me."

"Same goes for you too grandpa. Are you sure YOU have everything you might need?" Regina asks me.

"Not to mention are you ok carrying all those things over a long, long way over to Alaska?" Annie asks like the good girl that Fiona is bragging to me about.

I waved her concern away. "Well, 2 weeks ago I was also thinking the same thing. But when I worked out in the gym at Hazard, it turned out I can still do as much physical activity as a 30 year old man. When I get back, I will tell you the story about that. I assure you, it is funny. Well then, bye girls. See you soon." I smiled and waved at them walking down the road towards town. I look back at my granddaughters upon hearing them yell 'goodbye and good luck.'

I sincerely hope this is not the last time I ever saw them.

-

It was an hour already after I took leave of my granddaughters. When I had reached State Highway 1387, I followed it down to Buckhorn Dam and then left the road at the point where the highway went on top of the dam towards the east. I instead went south, making my way through the forest and keeping sight of Buckhorn Lake until I reached a rocky river bank that is within sight of Buckhorn Lake State Resort.

I sit down on one of the larger stones, leaning on my new SKS and wait.

An hour had passed (I knew this because I had a watch on my wrist that says it is 10 in the morning already) before anything happened.

Of all things to announce her coming, the Irish girl chooses the ringing of a telephone. And the strangeness of her announcement does not stop there. The sound is coming from the WATER.  
>I look at the water surface and I saw rainbow colored light coming out from under the water. As I watch, it slowly grew until it was around 3 meters in diameter. And then the water in the area of the circle of light parts apart like…like that old Cecil B. DeMille movie 'The Ten Commandments". When the water parted completely from the circle, there came the sound of an operating elevator. The figures of both Annan and Ratri slowly comes up from this elevator made of rainbow colored light.<br>I see that for them, this is quite the formal…make that very formal occasion. I feel a little bit embarrassed that I am only dressed in a military surplus M81 BDU and combat boots.

Annan is dressed in a costume Regina once showed me as an introduction to her neo-pagan religion. Regina's costume is two long white rectangular pieces of linen sewn together, a sleeveless dress basically, with a belt that is not made from leather but is woven together and a cloak with fringes and bright borders. But Regina's dress is a pale imitation of what Annan is wearing today.

Annan is wearing a shining gold colored sleeveless dress with black circular patterns that looks like plants, particularly vines, and her cloak is…well, if I remember correctly, I think the colors are of the modern Irish flag, if you ignore the golden colored fringes, the borders and spirals. But the colors are not simply printed like those sold in department stores, they are dyed into the cloth itself, and the colors are…sublime is the only word to describe it. And the patterns are… are making me see scenes of a distant past in my mind, people clothed in animal skins dancing and worshipping stones which look like Stonehenge with the same spiral patterns on them.

I soon snap out of the hallucination (or is it?) in a few seconds.

She is also wearing a strange golden necklace. If it is a necklace, I think it was the thickest one I have ever seen…actually, I think it looks more like a ring than a necklace with its design. The only difference is in its size and that it is more like a C-shaped piece of metal. And the vine patterns are also present on the necklace. And she is still wearing those sandals of hers that looks like it is made of woven rope.

Ratri on the other hand, is wearing a sari (I asked Annie what is that famous Indian dress called. She told me it was a sari). And…oh my…that is…interesting.

She is wearing a sari that is as black as night, filled with silver spots that I think must represent the stars since it does look like the night time sky every time I look up at the stars.

Actually, if I didn't know better…I feel like I AM looking at the night sky through the sari and yet I still know that I am looking at a cloth, which makes it obvious I am looking at something with magic here.

But that is not what is interesting with what she is wearing. What is interesting is she is not wearing anything else under the sari.

Yeah, you can see the outline of her nipples through the clothing (I am not sure either how I can see it through black colored fabric. Maybe it is because the fabric is a little too thin) and it is obvious that she has no panties either, looking at the way the sari sticks closely to her thighs. But contrary to expectations, I don't feel my hormones acting up. I actually feel like I am looking at something as sublime as…the night sky. It is like Ratri is the night personified.

Aside from the sari, she is also wearing a big, heavy looking necklace made of gold that is long enough to rest between her breasts and a golden waist chain, and she is bare footed. Compared to when I first met her, she is dressed much more simply but is more beautiful for doing so.

'I wish Mary wore something like that during the honeymoon. That would make the event more… special than it already is. Hehehe'

Then the moment of sublimity is broken by the sound an elevator makes when it stops at a floor.  
>Well, it is time for business.<p>

I smiled and stand up from the stone I was sitting on.

"Hello Ratri, kid. What took you so long?" Annan's eyebrow twitches while Ratri looks away and hid her mouth with the back of her hand, trying to stifle her giggle. Annan turns to Ratri with a betrayed expression to which Ratri answered by saying "It's really funny!"

"Actually, I am also not comfortable with the lights Mr. Ward. Here, another pair of sunglasses for you. The ride will take about 15 minutes, give or take a few seconds" and she hands me a pair of sunglasses by reaching into her sari…like what you see if you put your hand in the water. Ignoring the weirdness, I quickly but politely take the pair of sunglasses from her hand, put them on, and everything is all right with my eyesight. Annan just looked away and sighs. Then she turns to me "Just making sure we had everything in order. So, are you ready for the adventure of your life?" She changes her tone at the start of the second sentence, from being exasperated to being excited.

"What adventure?" I said while navigating my way through the rocky riverside towards their magical elevator. "This is just a job in exchange for getting my granddaughters miserable luck washed away. Not really too different as the time when I was drafted to fight in Vietnam. After this, I am going to go back to my normal life and live normally until the day I die."

"Normal? Well…Mr. Ward, once someone deals with the supernatural, one can never go back to a normal life. It is inevitable that weird shit will happen again at least once in a human's life once they have been touched by the supernatural. Tell me, dealing with me is the second time in your life you are in contact with the supernatural, right?"

"Do you know something about my past, Annan?" I asked curiously as I step down onto the magical elevator after wading through ankle deep water.

"Well, you would not believe who has known about you before, and you will not believe how thankful they are for you taking out a whole temple of their problems" Annan said as she snaps her fingers and the elevator started going to…somewhere.

We slowly descend while above us, the sky is closed up by the water, and then slowly became the same rainbow colored light as the elevator I am in, as well as the sides of the elevator. I really don't want to describe it since my eyes are hurting from the sheer brightness of the colors.

A few seconds pass and I can't take it anymore.

"Ratri, just how long are we going to be traveling on this elevator? The light is…to be frank, it hurts my eyes." I turn to her, finding her wearing…sunglasses?

"Thanks Ratri. So, Annan, what do you know about Cambodia?" I ask, curious about how she knew about that cursed temple.

"I asked around the folks in Indochina about you and I got this story, with the locals talking about it while having drinks, about an American soldier who in the heat of a night time battle with the Vietcong got lost in the Cambodian jungle and stumbled upon a Buddhist temple that had been the source of so many headaches for every supernatural being in Indochina for…since the fall of Rome."  
>"I have been wondering all these years" I ask, finally knowing that I can get answers about that episode of my life "what the hell is that place for? It is a temple, and yet it is full of walking stinking corpses and reptile like monsters and…human shaped monsters. Isn't a temple, supposed to be…you know…holy, at least to someone?"<p>

"You should ask Ratri. She is part of the Indian pantheon, and the younger generation of her pantheon are the ones who are originally supposed to be responsible for the place." I look at Ratri, who is listening in surprise by this sudden turn in the conversation.

Flustered, Ratri answers "Well, like she said, it was the younger gods who really know that place, but the story I got is that the temple you stumbled upon is originally a Hindu temple, but it was converted into a prison for…believe it or not, extremists from the supernatural communities of Indochina and India between 10 BC and 10 AD in an agreement between the two groups."

"Extremists? As in…suicide bombing types of extremists?"

"More like the Ku Klux Klan, Nazis and Jack the Ripper types,persons even the Asuras think are crazy or too nasty to tolerate, and that is something that tells you how crazy the imprisoned people are. It was well guarded, but eventually, around the start of the Middle Ages, there was a prison riot, the imprisoned crazies got out, but were contained and quarantined in a roughly 3 square kilometer area by roughly every ancestral spirit, boddhisatva and god in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Burma. The political fallout…was bad, since it was supposed to be us Indians who are responsible for security. Even Buddhist deities from Indochina who are supposed to not feel any desire for the world are asking questions like it was a US Senate committee because the inhabitants of the village around the temple were all turned into those zombies you killed. It was not until the 1400's that the Indochinese supernatural community are on speaking terms again with us Indians."

"So basically you are saying I stumbled upon the Indian pantheon's Guantanamo bay slash Alcatraz, except it was one that was taken over by the prisoners in a prison outbreak…and I killed them all? Uhh…how am I still alive? No…let me take it step by step. How did I get there in the first place and why is there a Vietcong encampment near it if it is quarantined by gods AND spirits?" I was at this point bewildered by these questions about my past.

"Well, the rules used for getting the locals to stay away from the area is that some of the Cambodian and Vietnamese ancestor spirits guarding the area would haunt, spook and even slightly hurt anyone who gets within 500 meters of the 3 square kilometer quarantine zone. If you are not near enough, they don't do anything. The VC encampment is 1 kilometer away from the quarantine area so they didn't get bothered, and the encampment is there because the village that is near the prison asked, no begged for the presence of the VC, thinking that it might scare away the ghosts. It did not work, many VC guerrillas got sent back to North Vietnam gibbering in terror because of…overzealousness on the part of the Cambodian spirits, which the Vietnamese complained about of course. In the end, the Vietcong started turning away everyone from the area and turned into the mortal security force guarding the area. As a result, the guards at the temple relaxed their anti-mortal security around two months before you stumbled upon the temple prison."

"So, I got in there because of a lapse in security? Damn. Next question: I understand how I could kill zombies, you see it in the movies all the time, but I don't understand how I managed to kill demons and crazy gods."

"That's easy." Annan answers me. Looking at her, she asks me "The spirits and gods guarding the temple lent you a helping hand because it was a chance to finally kill everything inside for once and for all without any risk on their part, but I was told by those who are there that it was not much really, aside from instantly making new ammunition and grenades on your person, putting a lot of magic into every bullet you shot and grenade you threw, and into your gun and bayonet so it would not break while you are fighting in melee and giving you a temporary ESP to counter any attacks from where you could not see them coming from. Oh, and putting that rosary you used as a knuckle into your hands and those Bibles you used as a bludgeon."

That's all? At the time when I was fighting in that temple, I was convinced God, or at least somebody is helping me and controlling my body. Now that she is telling me that…that is all those spirits and gods helped me with…then that means…

"Ratri, look here at this guy. I asked those spirits and gods who I talked to that I want to see those memories, and it was awesome. The last time I saw someone fight like that was Oscar at Cath Gabhra."

I don't know who Oscar is, or where Cath Gabhra is, but I saw the Indian goddess become really curious, looking at me in a new light. I shrug, not really knowing where the Irish girl is going with this. Annan continued talking.

"You should have seen him in action. He took down a 4 meter tall, six armed asura with elemental blades in four moves, although it is the grenade he smashed into the asura's mouth that did the killing. And he did not keep his distance from the zombies. When he did not have time to change his magazines once he ran out of bullets, he bayoneted and smashed heads until he had space to reload. I have never seen such skill with the bayonet ever since the United Irishmen rebellion. And with a speed that impressed the spear masters watching along with me in that bar. He also did a number on that naga with his improvised rosary knuckles, which are made of plastic. Never heard anything scream that loudly in centuries, nor did my fellow viewers. And all of this is done while he shouting passages from the Christian Bible and prayers over and over again the whole night, the prayer echoing all around the place and making anything hostile in that temple experience a very painful migraine."

And that is what bugs me. What she is describing, what I remember is definitely Medal of Honor or DSC stuff, I think, but aside from that temple…I never fought anyone else like that, before or after. In the end, I only got a Vietnam Service Medal and a Purple Heart (the injuries I got to qualify for that one came from the prison temple and that sniper that shot at me when I was approaching a South Vietnamese unit the next day) from all those months in Vietnam. Where did that fighting ability of mine in that temple come from?

-

For the next 5 minutes I stand there, slowly getting more and more embarrassed by the minute as the Irish girl is telling more and more examples of what I did that night, with Ratri looking back at me from time to time with an expression that says 'What on Earth?!'

I just did not have the heart to interrupt the Irish girl since I see that she is enjoying telling the story, and I did want to see if I remember things right. The most memorable part of that night is the terror, not the fight.

I had been separated from my platoon when we pursued the fleeing VC, and my compass is broken. I thought I am behind enemy lines and I only had half of my original ammo remaining. Lost for 3 hours I then stumbled upon a fence of barbed wire with a crumbling temple beyond it. I thought I had some shelter, instead I went into a literal hell.

After that...more terror than I had ever felt before and even up to now. And then I suddenly went into action.

I do remember most of what I did next but I still don't believe I am capable of doing that.

I never imagined that I would rip pages from the Bible and slap them into the face of one six armed demon, nor did I imagine doing an uppercut at its balls it with a Catholic rosary as a knuckle as my next step and then smashing its teeth in with a grenade and pulling the pin out and slowly walked away to my gun as it blew up behind me.

Nor did I ever imagined shouting Psalm 23 and 'Our Lord's prayer' over and over and over again the whole night, as I shoot zombies full of lead, bayonet giant snakes through the eyes and their jaw, smash jaws, and hit balls of magic with my rifle like it was a game of baseball and hitting them all the time (granted, those balls are as big as basketballs).

As I was wondering earlier, where did that fighting ability and other actions come from? Especially doing something so sacrilegious to something holy to my faith? (Or fellow worshippers in faith for the case of the rosary)

Anyways, I think I feel embarrassed enough so I politely ask Annan if she is finished talking about the past, because I want to talk about the specific things I will be doing for her as part of our contract.

"Oh. Sorry, I have gone too far off our topic. It's just it was such an amazing topic to talk about while waiting for our destination, and really. The stuff you did, it is something heroes from many pantheons would be hard pressed to do."

"It is not me Annan. It is the US army teaching me how to fight and giving me the equipment to do so. The credit goes to them, really."

"They teach you to shout like a Norse berserker crossed with an Islamic jihadist during the whole fight? Or use holy objects as weapons even when they are not meant to be used as one?" Annan teases me.

"You know what I mean kid." I glower at her.

"Alright, alright. Back on topic. This is how it is going to work. I am going to repay my debts and owed favors to 6 particular people. I will repay it in the form of doing a favor for them in return. Your job is to go along with me and fight alongside me if and only if we got into a battle."

"Ok. I get it. How about these…companions that Ratri talked about?"

"Well, they are other humans who also happened to be my, Ratri's and Daesun's worshippers when they are alive who will be going along with us on this trip. Don't worry about them not pulling their weight because I assure you all of them have been veterans of wars when they are alive."

"All of them war vets when they are still alive…that doesn't mean killed in action does it? Because that does not really tell me that they are really good at fighting."

"Trust me, except for one, all of them died fighting hard."

"Well…if that is the case…can we even have a conversation? I know Ratri is an Indian, therefore her worshipper is an Indian. And where did Daesun come from? At least I am sure your man can speak English."

"I'll just have some magic that will translate languages up and running."

I nod in approval. Let me see…what else did I forget to touch upon…weapons! Equipment!

"Ratri, what happened to 'Annie', my family heirloom?" I turn to the goddess on my other side.

"Me, Annan and Daesun upgraded 'Annie' with lots of magical spells. And now, I can assure you that 'Annie' will be a gun that you can take with you to World War 3 and win."

I raise my eyebrows at that boast. "I do hope nothing you did to 'Annie' is permanent if you can make that boast. And World War 3 will be fought with more powerful weapons than a magical muzzle loading rifle."

"Like I said 2 weeks ago, any magic can be quickly unmade by the one who made it. And even if it is not the one who cast the magic, it is just a matter of time and effort before you can uninstall any kind of magic."

"Good. How about equipment? I brought a lot of outdoor gear in anticipation of a long mission without the comforts of civilization."

Ratri looked at Annan upon me asking that question. I look towards the Irish girl for the answers, who is giving me a confused look.

She answers "You mean you did not bring that backpack and that rifle to keep up appearances to your granddaughters? And can you give Ratri that rifle? And the ammo too. One of your companions will need that after we are done giving it magic."

I absentmindedly give the SKS to Ratri, a little concerned that it seems like the organizer of this job has not considered everything about this job she is organizing.

"I was thinking of using the SKS and the ammunition I bought as a backup weapon in case I need it. But I really do think I need my clothing, canned food and outdoors equipment for your mission, and if these companions of yours really are veterans worth their salt, they will also bring their own outdoor gear."

Annan blinks. And then she asks me what part of 'used to be alive' did I not get. The explanation I got after that seems to indicate that a better description of my companions would be souls who had the concept of 'solid' applied to them. A lot harder to send them back to their respective afterlives that way. So there is no need to bring food and shelter when you could sleep on the ground.

"But I am still alive. I need the food and shelter you know?" I interject.

Ratri also had her own stuff to say. "Annie, you did not say that is the plan. Me and Daesun resurrected our guys. And I am sure Lieu Hanh also fully resurrected her soldiers."

The Irish girl looked at both of us, openmouthed, and then facepalms.

Confidence…slowly…dropping to zero.


	6. Meeting the other bodyguards

Chapter 6

As the magical elevator stopped and we walked out on to a grassy field, the Irish girl is busy trying to fix the glaring problem in her preparations. But…her next 'logical' conclusion just feels wrong to me, especially after everything that happened in Vietnam and beyond. A case in point is Fiona's birth. I thought I was prepared, but I missed something. Thank God there is a midwife in town. To make things shorter, we got into an argument on what to do about supplies.

"Now listen here. I am going to provide the food, the shelter, the weapons, equipment and finally, the healing if things go that badly. Problem solved. So there is no need to think about supplies. Why are you still being so stubborn with that backpack? It's only going to slow us down."

And I interject, at the same time handing back the sunglasses to Ratri "It is not a sure thing if you can provide supplies for us all of the time. I prefer having something non-magical and physical to rely on when that time comes."

"Why are you so paranoid? The only reason I had you come along with me is for you and our other companions to do what my debtor is asking me to do, and I will just be your magical, divine support. I will NOT be in the line of fire here, you and the other companions are."

"Have you never heard of the saying that things never go according to plan? You said it yourself, we are definitely going to get into a fight, and I doubt it will be something you are not going to get pulled into."

"The kind of fight you are thinking of is what I am trying to avoid, so that is why I asked those guys and girls I owe favors and debts to give me something that even a human could do acting as my proxy."

The argument would have been continuing for the whole day given a chance. Fortunately, the other person who is here with us ended our argument.

"If you two are quite finished arguing over and over, you two might just notice that we are at our destination and that there are other people here." Ratri admonishes the both of us in a voice I associate with my mother (long dead, may God bless her soul) when she is lecturing me.  
>Me and the Irish girl shut our mouths immediately, embarrassed to have somebody else see our slowly degenerating argument.<p>

It became more embarrassing for me upon seeing who saw me arguing with Annan. I did not really notice the man with a spear and the Indian man, nor did I even give more than a glance at the two other women there.

No, my attention is pointed at two men who I am absolutely sure had a shared history with me: fighting in Vietnam.

One of them is dressed in an olive drab jungle fatigue (along with an M1 helmet and combat boots) with a patch on his right shoulder that I can still recognize after all these years. I mean, what other unit has a dragon shaped in the number 2? None other than the ROK 2nd marine brigade. And this Korean is laughing at me.

Laughing.

Oh God, the humiliation.

How would you feel if someone who has the justly earned reputation of being bad-ass and is the nearest person you actually know to a real-life Rambo, is laughing at something you did?  
>Yeah…I am feeling the blood rushing to my cheeks, at which point the Korean guy laughs even harder.<br>And then I look at the other man…my embarrassment quickly turns into something else. I think the best expression is…what curse did Regina say at that time? Oh yeah…'What the fuck'?

I recognize him. I actually recognize that damn face! It's one of those two Vietcong kids, the one who is aiming that AK at me when I got out of that temple in Cambodia! The one that told me, in English no less (how DID he know how to speak English?) to surrender with a slightly smirking face, just like now. Even now he is wearing the same floppy jungle hat, rubber sandals and green fatigues as those he wore at our first meeting.

But today…he looks older. Way older. I think the Vietnamese kid is now around…five or so years younger than me…wait. Didn't Annan tell me everyone here died and Ratri told me that except for Annan's guy, everyone else was raised back from the dead (which I keep ignoring because of religious beliefs) ?

I walk nearer to the VC kid, hearing the Korean's laughter slowly stop.

The important word here is slowly.

I stopped when I was around 6 feet away, at this point not noticing anything else other than the VC kid...the old Vietnamese man in front of me.

"So, how was your life after you let me get away from you guys?" I ask him in wonder and curiosity.

"Do you remember that girl beside me that night in Cambodia, American? Well, I fought hard to keep her alive from her adventurous character all the way until the end of the war, married her and went back to Hanoi, had 3 children while working as a soldier of the Vietnamese People's Army until I retired as a Major General, I think you Americans call it, and lived a happy life until I died around three years ago."

"What happened?" I ask.

"Freak accident. There I was walking beside my wife and buying some presents for our grandchild's birthday when suddenly one of the wooden supports of the stall suddenly broke. I immediately pushed my wife out of the way but I got hit by the wood on my head in just the right way as to immediately kill me."

"That…sucks. Especially the part about dying when it is almost your grandchild's birthday."

"It is just one day before his birthday. They held the birthday at the same time as my funeral, so my grandchild also got more presents from more distant members of the family."

"That's...very practical of your family." I could not help commenting at this fact.

"My wife is a very practical woman. It's one of the things I love about her." He smiles proudly at his description of his wife. And then he asks me the same question I asked first. "And how is your life after you got away from me and Thien?"

I smile. "After you and your wife let me go, I found my way back into friendly territory, except when I was already walking towards an ARVN patrol , some enemy sniper shot me in the arm. After that, I got home and left the army as fast as I could so I could marry my girlfriend with no more worries. We eventually had two children, and spent most of our lives living happily ever after."

"Happily ever after? Really?" The man asks in a curious tone, complete with raised eyebrows. I thought for a second what is he asking for, and then it dawns on me what he is thinking about.

"Well, there is the once in a while disagreement, and then there are the kids raising hell when they are babies until they became teenagers."

The Vietnamese nods, showing he understands what I am talking about. "Yes, it is true that naughty kids and henpecking wives are some kind of karma upon us men for the crimes we had made before marriage."

"Henpecking?" I asked, feeling the laughter starting. The man stopped talking, finally noticing what he had accidentally let out of his mouth.

And then we both laugh.

I raise my hand towards him for a handshake. "The name's Herbert Ward from Kentucky, USA."

"Lieu Van Thuc, originally from Binh Phuoc or what used to be called Phuoc Long, lately of Da Nang."  
>Thuc said as he starts to shake my hand.<p>

After our handshake, I take a curious glance at the Korean and then look back at Thuc. He noticed it and immediately introduces me to the Korean.

"Herbert, this here is Cha Yung Ho, from…Pusan?" Thuc looks back at Yung Ho with a confused expression.

"Yes, Pusan" Yung Ho replies to Thuc's question.

"Like I said earlier, my name is Herbert Ward" I said as I stretch my hand out for him to shake.  
>Yung Ho took it and then asks me.<p>

"So, from which US unit did you come from? I was with the Korean 2nd marine brigade."

"I was with the 25th infantry" I answer. And then I asked both of them with a question. "How come both of you are here?"

The two of them looked at each other, curiosity suddenly appearing as to why each other is there at that moment. Yung Ho is the first one to answer.

"I was not only a marine. I was also an aspiring paksu mudang, a male shaman, by the time I was recruited. Being a paksu, I was known to the spirits, and was special in that I am the only paksu or mudang around who had any combat training and experience, recent or ancient, to my great surprise. So, I was the first one approached by Dalsun for this dangerous job."

"So Daesun is a Korean." I mutter to myself.

"What about you Thuc?" I asked when I turn to him.

"Well, I am here because the spirits of Vietnam and Cambodia owe a debt of honor to you for taking out that prison temple, and when the goddess you are involved with explained your situation, they decided to involve themselves by sending someone to represent Vietnam and Cambodia in this…expedition of yours."

"And that's you? No offense but…we are both old men. The only reason I am here is because I am contractually liable to do so. But you…?" I leave the sentence hanging in midair because I am perplexed at this fact.

"To tell you the truth Herbert, I was also thinking the same thing despite having wishes of meeting you again in a reunion." Thuc chuckled a bit and then continues his explanation.

"Alright, I will tell you how I got into this. I was there looking out for my family as an ancestral spirit around a week ago when my own ancestors came around looking for me, saying that there is a group of important people who are searching for me. I left looking out for my family to my immediate ancestors and went with the messenger. When I got there I was surprised by who is there. It was a significant portion, if not all, of the top rank and file of every group of supernatural beings in Indochina. I recognized Lieu Hanh, who is with me here today."

Thuc quickly points at one of the two goddesses I don't know about and then went back to me.

"And with her there is a very majestic man whose golden colored skin is covered with scales standing beside a beautiful woman with white hair. I asked my ancestor 'who are those two?', and he told me it is Lac Long Quan and Au Co, which shocked me. They are the mythological father and mother of the Vietnamese people. There are also others in there which my ancestor pointed out to me; Kaundinya and Soma of the Khmer, Leiyou Ye of the Cham, Khun Borom of the Lao, various boddhisatvas and the most important ancestor spirits of the ethnic minorities of Indochina. All there asking for my presence."

Thuc is sweating a little by now, with a dazed, awed look present in his eyes remembering that event. I looked at Yung Ho to see what he makes of Thuc's reactions. It seems he was impressed by what he is hearing. I continued listening to Thuc's story.

"My ancestor announced that I am here and everyone there looked at me. I was nervous and not sure of what the proper protocol is for greeting deities and spirits so I reverted back to my military training and saluted them as if they are all my superior officers and said 'Thieu Tuong Lieu Van Thuc reporting as ordered'. I thought I just made a mistake when several eyebrows rose up, but from the edge of my sight, my ancestor looked proud. I held that position for a while since those who I am saluting still did not dismiss me, and it was getting a little awkward since those in front of me don't seem to be familiar with military protocol. In hindsight I think they are waiting for me to stop saluting. It was not until Khun Borom told me I could stop doing whatever I am doing that I went at ease. Then Lieu Hanh started to walk in circles around me."

Thuc pauses for a while, and rests his voice for a bit while I and Yung Ho wait for him to continue.

"While Lieu Hanh walked, she asked me some questions, like what do I know about that temple back in Cambodia, or what did I do to you Herbert, and if I still know how to shoot and fight. After I answered all of those questions, Lieu Hanh stopped in front of me and explained what is going on, and then told me that it was decided by everyone that I would be the one who will accompany you on your expedition. I was a little surprised at that arbitrary decision and asked why me, since there are more qualified people around, and I know where to find them. She explained it was better that I be the one to go with you since I already know you and...and since I became a major general, I must be someone who is very, very good at fighting."

I just stare at Thuc. And then I look at Yung Ho to see his reaction, which happens to be the same as mine. I look back to Thuc and then say "You do know what that sounds like right?"

Thuc sighs. "I know how ridiculous that sounds. They actually think generals nowadays still lead from the front, like the Trung sisters or Alexander the Great. I explained that fact to them, that nowadays, they just direct operations and don't really fight in the frontlines and that it has been a long time since I have shot at anyone in anger or fought in the frontlines personally. Unfortunately…they said I could just learn the tricks of the trade all over again."

We both digest that information for a while, and then Yung Ho says in a voice filled with incredulous wonder "They don't really understand people nowadays, do they?"

"…No they don't. I am somewhat surprised, considering there is a constant inflow of recently dead people into heaven. But the fact is that the more recently dead you are, the less is your importance in the greater scheme of things, which includes how likely more important spirits and deities listen to you."

"How true." Yung Ho said while nodding.

...I don't like the sound of that, especially since I am a senior citizen. I expect to be treated with respect, not as a kid.

"So," Thuc continues "since I have no other choice and I do want to meet you again Herbert, I spent the last two weeks trying to get myself up to a more reasonable physical state and remembering whatever I could from my own days in training and whatever training I supervised in my days as a senior officer."

I tried to stifle my laughter, but the image coming into my mind is so…ridiculous that I just can't help but laugh, however silent it is.

Imagine…an old general who has long been behind the desk, is out there in the middle of the field, trying to do basic training or at least something resembling it and all from memory. No matter the fact that no one else is on the field, the old general has got to feel ridiculous doing it by himself.

Jogging by himself, crawling through the mud by himself…doing drills all by himself…damn.

I finally give up holding the laughter in and let out some snickers. I hear someone else snickering, probably Yung Ho.

When the laughter died down, I see Thuc has his arms crossed in front of his chest, tapping his foot and smiling…like my drill sergeant was that time in basic training when somebody I can't remember answered something so…wrong that even the sergeant and the whole platoon was at a loss for words.

Finally, he just smiles in this terrifying fashion that makes you feel like…like you just did something so utterly stupid that he just can't help but smile.

And did I forget to mention that the air felt cold all of a sudden? Like what was a 'gentle night time breeze' temperature suddenly turned into a 'winter on the hills of Kentucky' one?

Me and Yung Ho immediately shut up as fast as you can say 'No' and quickly follow instincts that had been long drilled into us in our time in our respective militaries.

…wow.

I guess Thuc really got what it takes to be someone high ranking in the army. More power to him.

"Finished laughing guys?" Thuc asks calmly.

"Sir, yes sir." Both of us respond in the only way we felt we are allowed to. Thuc maintains that smile for a few more seconds, before he lets out a snicker that broke the aura of impending corporal punishment and then lets out a full blown laughter of his own at our expense. I and Yung Ho (from what I can see from the edge of my vision) relax, seeing that all is forgiven and he already had a laugh at our expense in revenge.

"HA-Ha-ha-ha-ha…ha. You should have seen the look on your faces!" Thuc managed to say at last when his laughter ran out.

"I would prefer not to. If only to forget the reason why I did it." Yung Ho says with a sulking face.  
>"Eh? You guys laughed at me first when I expected you to not do so." And at this Thuc shows a face that has faint traces of betrayal on it mixed with a large part of mirth.<p>

"For my part, I apologize for laughing." Yung Ho apologizes sincerely to Thuc, letting out an air of a teenager who is caught doing something wrong and knows that they should have done better.

"Me too. Sorry about that." I apologize too.

Thuc waves it away. "It's alright. It's alright. No harm really done. Even I find the fact somewhat funny. But surely YOU guys also did the same thing for the last 14 days, right?" He looks at both of us while saying the last sentence.

Ouch. I feel like a hypocrite.

Thuc immediately puts his arms around both me and Yung Ho, saying "Oh come on my newfound friends. Sorry I made you guys feel bad. So how about this? After this whole adventure let's go find the nearest bar and drink something. And the drinks are on me!" Thuc raise the arm that what on Yung Ho's shoulder at this declaration. We laugh at this act.

"If you want to get to that bar, then why don't we start with my the repayment of my debts?" That sentence dragged the mood down.

We all look at the speaker, to see Annan leaning on a black colored staff with a knob at the top, and a strap wrapped around her hand.

Oh Yeeaahh…I forgot.

We all cough and then go into proper, respectable standing positions, embarrassed at letting someone else see us acting like younger, less mature men.

Behind her, Ratri and another goddess shoot apologetic smiles at us for their friend's interruption of our reunion while the goddess from Vietnam, Lieu Than stood a little behind them along with two other men.

I guess the other goddess is Daesun. She is a teenage Asian (but definitely not Vietnamese) looking girl with long, dark hair tied into a bun as opposed to her other friends who let theirs fall down naturally. She is also dressed in a long shirt whose…the part where it is supposed to be around the waist is instead wrapped around under her breasts, and a long sleeved shirt.

Her costume, compared to her friends, is almost as normal as the clothes my granddaughters wear, except for the color. At a glance, it is white but if I look closer, what is white is actually moonlight shining from the dress. If I didn't know better (again), I might say that I am looking at the moon shining through that dress.

As for accessories, she has secured her bun with two sticks of wood whose ends are dipped in gold and seems to be the source of the pinecone smell that I started smelling when I looked at her.  
>I guess that means the sticks are made of pine.<p>

Aside from the hair bun, Daesun is…ok…why did I not notice that before? It must be because I am used to seeing them in everyday life.

She is wearing eyeglasses. And there is nothing strange about them, nor am I experiencing anything strange upon seeing them. A perfectly ordinary pair of spectacles, on somebody not ordinary.

An interesting reversal on the description of strange, I would say.

As for Lieu Hanh, she…looks like a typical (and beautiful) Vietnamese woman I see all the time in the rice fields of Vietnam. And I say the word again, WOMAN.

It could be the feeling of motherly affection I am bombarded with. Or it could be because she has the face of a good wife and mother.

Or if I am honest enough, it might be because she has a bigger bust than the three members of the Modern Human Appreciation club have. But whatever it is, I can only see her as a mature woman.

Moving on, she is wearing a jade green dress (composed of a tunic which is open at the front and a long skirt under it) which gives me the feeling of standing in the middle of a rice field just looking at it, a yellow sash wrapped around her waist from which pearls of a pure white color (so white it starts making my eyes water) are dangling from, and a paddy hat of the same golden brown color as that of rice ready to be harvested. Aside from that, she is wearing no other accessory as far as I can see.

"Since all of you guys have already introduced yourselves, I will introduce your other two co-workers."

The two men…no. The man and the boy walk towards Annan and stand beside her.

Annan introduces the boy first. "Everyone, this is Connla, son of Setanta, of the land of Letha." The boy bows a little to acknowledge her introduction.

Connla is... I estimate around 13 years old at most. Red haired with traces of baby fat still present on his face, he is dressed in pants with a tartan pattern, a brown shirt and a tartan cloak. He is also carrying a backpack made of leather, and is holding an oval shaped shield that looks like it is made of bronze with the same circles and spirals as that on the cloak of Annan and a spear around one and a half meters long tipped by a head made of…bone, judging by the white color. Finally, tucked in his belt are a triangular shaped dagger, the likes of which I had never seen before, and a sling straight out of the Bible.

What…the…hell? Why is a kid here?

I look at Thuc and Yung Ho for their reactions, and found them with stony faced expressions at the introduction of this boy.

I look back in front when Annan continues with her introduction. "And this is Javin Buddhapriya Lad of Jhansi." this time pointing to the man, who bows to us at her introduction.

Javin is a young, bearded Indian man wearing a white turban, a white knee length, long sleeved coat and a white pants. He is also carrying a dark blue colored backpack that looks like the ones used in the Civil war, a percussion cap rifle, and a…muzzle loading pistol that looks like a miniature double barreled shotgun tucked in a sword belt and a saber with a pointed pommel and a hilt which protects the hand, being held in a leather scabbard.

Javin greets us in a British accent "Hello sirs. I am Javin and I hope I am able to be of help to you all in this endeavor."

I reply "Thank you. I also hope we can work well." I also heard Thuc and Yung Ho say something to the same effect, but I did not hear them properly since they spoke out at the same time as me.

Connla is the next one to greet us. He does so in some language that I guess must be Irish, meaning that none of us there understood him, especially since up to now everyone is talking in English for convenience's sake.

The boy looks a little confused upon seeing that we did not understand him, and then turns to Annan obviously asking for a translation.

Annan facepalms, muttering something about becoming forgetful. She then raises her left hand, hold it there for about five seconds while muttering something under her breath, and suddenly snaps her fingers. And then she turns to Connla and say "They can understand our language now."

The boy turns to face us again and introduce himself again "I greet you again elders. My name is Connla of Letha and I hope to have many victories fighting side by side with you elders."

"Umm…nice…to meet you." I said uncertainly, not sure how to tell him and the Irish girl (I will have words with her later) that I don't want children involved in something violent. From his weapons, I don't even think he knows what a gun is! Fortunately for the peace of my mind, Thuc is more…outspoken than me.

"May I ask you a question Connla?" he asks in a nice, friendly way. However this tone also emanates at the same time something I recognize as…that of a high ranking officer who found something that is against regulations, which I concede IS what is happening here.

"What is it that you want to ask elder?" Connla said respectfully, likely feeling the same thing as I am.  
>I wonder how he knows about that.<p>

"Just how old are you?"

Connla blinks, and then shows a baffled expression at this question. He then answers "May I ask why does my age matter? And my age how? My age when I died or how long ago since I was born?"  
>Age when he died…you mean he died in battle?! Thuc is apparently the only one here to die peacefully…<p>

…Ok…I am now getting really uncomfortable.

"Because even after death I am still a former member of the Vietnamese People's Army, the army of my country, which is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the rights of a child. I am therefore obligated by both international conventions and by my own morals to object to the idea of child soldiers and any derivative such as warriors and assassins and if possible, to try to prevent the usage of children in battle."

Talk about undying loyalty. Seen from a particular viewpoint, Thuc sounds like a true and die-hard patriot of his country.

I join Thuc in trying to dissuade Connla from joining Annan's security detail, not wanting to look like I consent to child soldiers by remaining silent.

"Well, see here Connla, I belong to a religion in which the founder said to cherish and protect children for doing good unto them is the same as doing good unto God. I would not be a good follower and my own conscience would hurt me if I allow a child to go on what could be a potential warzone."

And then Yung Ho joins in on our objection. "I may not be a Christian nor a Buddhist, but I agree with some of the values they espouse such as taking care of children and teaching them as they grow up into adults. In fact, I am a product of such a system, and so is Herbert here."

I look at the reactions of the other people in the place. Connla looks amazed at what we are saying. Javin looks surprised. Ratri and Daesun are softly clapping their hands in admiration, Lieu Hanh looks impressed and Annan is scratching her head with an uneasy expression on her face.

Connla is the first to react. "I don't believe this. You three have something like a geis that compels you to object to children fighting? Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable." The kid is shaking his head.

Javin is the next to say something. "I was under the impression that child soldiers are acceptable in the West, seeing as in my time the British had drummer boys, some of which are as young as 13, in the army and powder boys in their navy."

"Military drummers serve only ceremonial functions nowadays Javin. And the British...actually us Americans too, allow 16 and 17 year olds to join the army nowadays but they are not allowed to serve outside the country. Say Connla, what is your age, if I may repeat the question earlier." I ask the kid.

Connla quickly answers "Seven at the time of my death. But my years of existence would be…more than two thousand years already, so of all of us, I would be the eldest in years."

Seven. Seven?

Everybody, including yours truly, stare at Connla, and then shift their gaze to Annan who replies with "What?" in a voice full of unease and irritation.

Javin is the first one to say something in that silence.

"I can understand a twelve year old on a battlefield. But a seven year old boy? What kind of addled mind lets a seven year old even hold a weapon when twelve year old boys in my time just have drums?"

"I doubt anyone that young even understands how to take an order in the first place, never mind knowing how to handle a weapon without injuring themselves" I add.

"Alright, I'll explain" Annan says with an exasperated tone, no doubt feeling pressured by our combined accusing looks. "In Europe, mythological figures always have something memorable or special that basically made them famous. This is evident just by a simple look into the origin of several terms, words and stories in the modern English language. Now, heroes from my general part of the world. Basically they are all famous for doing something, or for special things happening to them, in some cases even in their childhood. An example of those with childhood heroics is Heracles, also known as Hercules. He killed two snakes when he was less than a year old. Another is Connla's father Setanta, also known as Cu Chulainn. At the age of seven he was literally beating up boys who are older and bigger than him. And he also killed a very, very fierce and very big guard dog and three men in that year. Connla here is just…continuing that tradition, if you can call it that."

At this point, I am starting to feel lost in this conversation. And if I am lost, surely the others here are also feeling a little bit lost. So we humans just let the divine beings talk without any more input from us.

"Tradition." Daesun said in a deadpan voice.

"Just because he is someone who would not be out of place in the Mahabharata is not an excuse to give anyone who is not even 10 years old a weapon and say 'go out and kill someone'." Ratri says.

"Look, it wasn't even me who got him killed at the age of seven. It was his father Setanta, and the Morrigan." the kid at this point sounds like she is grabbing on to anything she can hold on a slippery surface, such is her tone right now.

"Why him in the first place? I am sure there must be a lot of other…heroes in Irish history" Daesun asked Annan in a tone that sounds like she still can't comprehend what her friend is thinking.  
>Annan…went silent and looked away from all of us, towards Connla who is smirking a bit. Which raised eyebrows all around.<p>

"Is there something we should know about, miss Annan?" Lieu Hanh asks.

Annan looks hesitant to answer that question. Unfortunately for her, Connla isn't.

"Well, she owes me a favor from some time ago involving someth…"

"Stop right there Connla! That's personal stuff!" Annan shrieked, her face looking as red as a face could be when embarrassed by something.

Hearing this, I just can't help but butt in with an observation that just came into my mind.

"Kid, just how many favors do you owe to other people?"

Annan goes silent again, not looking at anything other than her feet. Her friends look at her with stone-faced expressions. Us humans…except for Connla who is just smiling and standing there…like a kid, are just silently looking at all the goddesses. And Lieu Hanh is the only one to say anything.  
>"Perhaps a short retreat to Nirvana is needed here to break a bad habit?"<p>

…looks like the Irish kid has issues with promises.

I sure hope her issues doesn't kill me.


	7. Thuc the VC vet's equipment exposition

Chapter 7

A few moments ago I learned that Annan has a problem with her promises. Namely, making more promises than it looks like she could deal with.

It kind of sounds like someone who has an addiction with spending more than what they have, a problem that is getting more and more noticeable by the media what with the recent economic crisis.

A few moments after Lieu Hanh makes her comment, Daesun and Ratri thank her for her offer but politely refuse it, saying that they will help their friend themselves. Then Ratri locks eyes with Daesun and makes a gesture towards us with her eyes. Dalsun nods and holds her hand out for something.

Ratri reaches into that sari of hers and pulls out the SKS I bought (I forgot she had it) and gives it to her. After doing so Ratri then goes to Annan, whispers something to her, and they both walk away towards some distance away so they could talk with no one hearing their conversation.

Daesun then faces towards us again with a smile and then says "Umm…sorry about that. Can we go back and talk about the job again?"

I remember what we are talking about again and promptly continue the previous topic of our conversation.

"I still can't accept a kid into this kind of job" I say to Connla, seeing both Yung Ho and Thuc nodding in agreement from the side of my eyes.

"Elder Ward, please be reasonable. I admit I LOOK like a child, and I DID die when I was a child, but that was a very, very long time ago. I had been in existence ever since I was born for over…more than two thousand years already so…what is that word?...oh! Properly speaking, I am older than all three of you combined."

"But you are still a child whether you died a long time ago or not. I should know. I died at the age of 21 in 1966 and after all these years I can't help but still think like I did at 21." Yung Ho said as his answer to Connla's justification for ignoring his apparent age.

"Oh that? That is because you have only been dead for a short time. Let me think. 1966 is…only 41 years ago. Well, when you have been dead foras long as I am, you still grow up mentally regardless of your age at death due to the passage of time."

Yung Ho's eyebrows rise at that. I also felt my eyebrows rise at that explanation.

"You don't believe me?" Connla says.

"How do you even grow up mentally in the afterlife?" Yung Ho asks.

Thuc explains it for us, to my and Yung Ho's surprise. "It is because of interaction with other spirits. And surely even in the Korean land of the dead you guys DO notice the passage of time if you make the effort, do you?"

"Why…yes. Yes we do, although it is in relation to time here on Earth." Yung Ho answers him.

"Well, since he is never going to be physically mature, he can only mature mentally and that could be done with just social interaction and time."

"Don't tell me you will let him in our job?" Yung Ho says.

"Well…only after he answers a few questions I have." Thuc answers. And then he turned his head to face us, in a way Connla will not see his face, and winks at us.

Yung Ho turned to me and softly said "Is he planning something?"

"I think so." I answer.

We both watch Thuc walk a little closer to Connla. Then he starts asking his questions.

"So Connla, tell me. Do you think you are a good person?"

"Why of course I am. In fact, I think it was being a good son that got me killed in the first place."

I blink. How did being good get him killed?

Thuc is thinking of the same thing as me since he asks Connla to explain what he meant by this.

"Father put three different geis on me when I was born. But those geis aren't backed by magic so I had the option of not doing them. Of course there is the fact that no one and I repeat no one in the land of the Celts ever thinks of violating a geis."

"You said that word again. What is a geis?" Thuc asks.

"It is something forbidden, not allowed to happen. If you do it, bad things happen."

Oh. Then geis is the ancient Irish taboo. I get it.

"We call that nowadays a taboo. But what I don't get is you saying you had three different taboos. Does that mean they are different from person to person? And what does giving a taboo to you mean? Nowadays a taboo is usually something that a whole society says is unacceptable. You don't get a taboo, you are taught what is taboo."

"Well…the only geis in Celt society regarding geis is you don't break them, EVER. And geis…they are given to you by someone, or you are born with one and the druid has to divine what your geis is."

"Go on."

"Father put 3 different geis on me that are not backed by magic, so if I want to I could ignore it. But…society will not accept you breaking one, so I am stuck between earth and a…falling sky."

Connla shudders at those two final words. I wonder why?

"The three geis father gave me are that I cannot turn back once I start on my journey of trying to find him, I can never refuse a challenge and I must not tell anyone my name."

"What do these geis have to do with you being a good boy?" At this point Thuc sounds like…he's angry at something.

"Why is he angry?" I ask Yung Ho, who is frowning.

"Because something in the story feels very strange." He answers.

Surprised at this, I turn back to Connla, listening very closely now.

"Father requested that I search for him when I become seven, alone by myself. I obey it, even when Mother is fraught with worry and is asking me to wait a little bit longer."

"And how far is Letha from Ireland?" a surprise question that came from Javin, from beside Connla.

"Letha is…part of what you call nowadays France."

Ok, now I am starting to see hints of what is wrong here. You are asking a seven year old child to go all the way from France to Ireland alone? What is this? 'Home Alone'?

"So, through my journey, I met many people. Among them warriors who each and every time asked for my name or challenged me thinking they can rob me and easily kill me."

Horror and anger are starting to form inside me.

"I can't refuse a challenge, and those who I didn't give my name to got insulted and challenged me so…I was not involved in any war but I got into more life and death battles than anyone in a war in those times."

Is his father…Setanta is his name, ain't it…familiar with guns? I reckon I can do the same thing as Old Jack Hinson did and shoot him in the ass from half a mile away or less if he isn't.

"So, when I got to Dun Dealgan, my father's home, I finally felt at rest seeing that I am going to meet my father at last. What I didn't know was Dun Dealgan is frequently visited by many warriors who are in the service of Conchobar mac Nessa, seeing as father is Conchobar's best warrior. I was asked my name, but since I can't say it, the warrior I met felt insulted and challenged me. After I managed to disarm him…well a lot of other men tried to attack me. Luckily I was able to disarm them all. At last, they called someone else. He asked me my name, and I said I am under a geis not to say it so I regret that I can't tell him that. And then he smiled in a way that even now I can't interpret and challenged me. We fought…a long time, which is all I am certain of, until all of a sudden he suddenly started glowing with the legendary 'hero light'. Then I knew it is my father I am fighting, and I threw away my weapons, but he had already cast Gae Bulg and…to make the story shorter he gave me a fatal wound."

"Forget shooting from a distance. Let's lynch the bastard. Thankfully, I just happen to know a neighbor who has pitchforks and torches." I growl softly, so only Yung Ho can hear me.

"If we meet him, Herbert. If we meet him. And I prefer a Garand with a bayonet and a flamethrower. Let's see that man deal with napalm." Yung Ho whispers back to me.

I smile.

"And what in that story says that you are somebody who did good?" Thuc asks in a voice that can only be described as neutral.

"I followed father's instruction until the end. And I also killed a lot of warriors who wanted to hurt mother and my fellow tribesmen by killing me." Connla answers.

"I see. Well then, next question. Who do you think you are and where are you going?"

"Huh?" Connla looks quite confused with the questions Thuc is asking.

Hell, I think I am getting confused with where Thuc is going with this. 'Who you are and where are you going?' Isn't that more of a question you answer in your teens…oh.

"I repeat. Who are you and where are you going with your life…correction, your afterlife."

Connla is silent for a little while, thinking about what Thuc said. And then he comes up with an answer.

"I am Connla. A Son. A Warrior. A Friend. A Young Man at heart at first, an Old Man inside today. As for where I am going…I am waiting for something, that is why after all these years I still have not allowed myself to reincarnate."

"And what is that something? Could it be a girl?"

"To be honest, I think so. It could also be because I want to do something…productive for one last time before I reincarnate and get my memories buried in an endless amount of memories from future reincarnations."

It is Thuc's turn to be silent for a while, and then he shakes his head and said "You pass," and walked back to us still shaking his head.

I myself agree with his sentiment, no matter how much I don't want to.

Connla clenches his right fist and raised it in the air, happy face and the obligatory almost shout of "Yes" included in his moment of success.

"Really Thuc?" Yung Ho asks. "He is going in with us?"

"He is asking the same questions I am asking myself at my age Yung Ho. So he is more like a 60ish year old man stuck in a little boy's body. He has a right to come." I answered.

"Connla is giving me bad memories by him joining this job." Thuc said, standing in front of us and facing away from Connla.

"What kind of bad memories?" I asked him, curious about what is making him feel so bad.

"The bad memories I am thinking of come from the Cambodian war. I had to…I had to kill children brainwashed by the Khmer Rouge in that war in order to come home alive and see my own pregnant wife alive. I tell you, I felt dirty touching Thien's stomach, my unborn baby with…with hands stained with the blood of children."

Thuc didn't say anything for a few moments, and then he continues talking "At least in this occasion, the person being talked about is just stuck with the body of a kid but is actually older than me…Yeah, I can live with that…I can live with that."

All I can do for now is give him a pat on his back for comfort.

-

With the problem of allowing what appears to be a child soldier into this job resolved at last, though it is an unsatisfactory one, all three of us finally went back to the topic of the job itself. We faced back towards the two goddesses, who I noticed are also affected by Connla's story but are trying to hide it beneath...less happy expressions than when I first saw them.

Good to know who will be helping you lynch somebody who really deserved it.

"Well, I guess…issues…relating to fellow co-workers are resolved now?" Daesun says with a straight face.

The three…make that four of us if we include Javin, just look at her. And Connla…he happily says yes.

"Well, then we are going to give you three your weapons and show you what is magical about them. First of all, Lieu Hanh?" she looks towards Lieu Hanh, who I notice is holding my SKS.

"Lieu van Thuc, here is your rifle" she gives him the SKS.

Thuc takes the rifle from the goddess, steps away from us and tries to feel the weight of the gun. Then he checks other details, like the bayonet, which did not look THAT sharp or shiny when I bought it, the sights…to make a long story short he did a visual inspection of all the outer parts of the rifle.

"Can I ask for a big piece of cloth?" Thuc asks.

"Why? Are you going to disassemble that? Here in the grass?" I ask him.

"You can never be too careful Herbert." He said looking at me. Yung Ho, standing beside me agrees.

"Don't worry. I bought and tested that SKS myself. And I just cleaned it last night." I said to him.

That surprised Thuc. He looked at the rifle, and back again to me.

"Then why is this not given to you?"

"I have my own gun, which these goddesses here have in their possession doing some magic on it."

He raises one of his eyebrows at that, look at the rifle in his hands, and back again to Lieu Hanh.

"You holiness, may I ask what is different about this gun than from one I can get from the armory at Di An or any other military base back home?" Thuc asked Lieu Hanh.

Lieu Hanh looked to Daesun and said "this is not one of the weapons I blessed. Can you please explain it Daesun?"

"Alright. Mr. Thuc, the only thing different about that rifle is that Ratri put a little bit of magic on it, so now it will do things no other rifle, except for a magical one, can do."

"Things such as, your holiness?"

Daesun smile. Grins, to be more accurate.

"Infinite ammo. Indestructible against anything not planet destroying, god level magic or force. No maintenance needed. And it will never jam nor overheat. Ever."

Thuc just stares at her. Then he says "Pardon me, but may I test your claims?"

"Sure. That's your target" she pointed to a floating paper…no, not a paper target. That's a picture of the moon on a bond paper.  
>...I'm digressing.<p>

I can't help it, constantly being bombarded with these strange sights.

A picture of the moon floating in midair with nothing holding it around…I reckon a hundred meters away from us.

Thuc politely tells everyone to clear out of the way, takes the safety off and then aims the SKS at the target and goes straight to business.

He's accurate.

After zeroing the SKS with just 2 rounds, he started hitting the picture's general center with every shot.

I count the shots as Thuc quickly fired off all the rounds in the stripper clips already inside the…wait a minute. I didn't load the SKS with any clip when I went here.

By now Thuc shot off the tenth round. And then he stops.

"Come on. You know you are just anxious to know if you really are holding something every gun lover fantasizes about in your arms." Daesun teases him.

Thuc pulls the trigger…and lo and behold, to his and my surprise, it goes off. And I am still counting.

12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.20.

By now Thuc isn't even aiming at the target anymore. He is shooting at a piece of ground a dozen meters away from him, wide eyed at this…thing he is shooting.

35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

After the fortieth shot, Thuc stops shooting, turned the safety on and opens the bolt, trying to see where the ammo is coming from. I and Yung Ho tried to look at it over his shoulders, also wanting to see…

To find out there is nothing in the breech.

Thuc looked at us and said "My wife will be very, very happy with this gun if she had this during the war. I will be happy if my battalion is armed with these guns. Group 559 will be either be crying in anger because they will lose their jobs or crying in joy that they don't have to transport that much anymore."

"No more need to carry more ammunition. You can carry more food instead." Yung Ho wonders.

"And they will be your choice of food. No more cursed MCI's. No more heavy things dragging your backpack to the ground. And you can even bring other miscellaneous items, like cigarettes." I fantasize loudly.

"Or more grenades. You can never have too many of those." Thuc says.

"Or porn magazines"

Yung Ho stops smiling upon seeing how the both of us looked at him.

"How can a porn magazine save your life in any way?" I retort. Thuc, on the other hand, just stares at him.

"…Just forget that I said that alright?" Yung Ho asks us.

"Alright" Thuc agreed.

In the background we hear Daesun tittering while the others there…did not understand what we are talking about.

Good. No need to corrupt the innocent.

"I assume all our guns will work in the same way?" I ask Daesun.

"Well…the only thing that is common is the infinite ammo trick. Other than that there are some differences in the abilities of each one. Now…the other weapons are coming from Lieu Hanh, so-" And here Daesun immediately bows a little at Lieu Hanh's direction, as if she is giving the stage to her.

Lieu Hanh held a backpack with both hands, walks forward to Thuc and hold it out for him to take.

Well...it looks like a common commercial back pack that I can buy from the local department store at Hazard. The only difference is it is olive green in color.

Thuc looked at the piece of cloth that says who the manufacturer is and raises his eyebrow at what he sees. He then looks at Lieu Hanh and asks "Did you buy this from back home? I remember my daughter in law buying one of these for my grandson's upcoming school year."

Lieu Hanh shrugs and say "Why not? It helps our home. However, it isn't an ordinary bag anymore. Think of any weapon that could and could not possibly fit in there that is currently in the arsenals of Vietnam, and pull it out of the bag."

Thuc momentarily stares at her, and then seemingly humors her and opened the zipper, reach in and then stop in surprise. He put the bag on the ground and pulled out a…

How did an RPG rocket fit in there?

Thuc is also just looking at the RPG rocket he just pulled from the bag. Then he lays it down on the ground. He looks back at Lieu Hanh with a puzzled face.

"Go on" she says in response.

Thuc reaches into the depths of the bag again and pull out various things.

There's three AKM's, a PKM, another RPG 7 with a launcher this time, a freaking SA 7 portable SAM, five blocks of what looks like C4, ten magazines for AKM's, a belt of 7.62 ammo, and then another one…

Thuc slowly stops pulling out things from the bag and slowly put the last thing he grabbed down on the grass. He looked at Lieu Hanh, back to the bag, and then back to the goddess and says "This gift is appreciated, your holiness."

"You're welcome. And weapons are not the only ones you can get from it" Lieu Hanh approaches Thuc and takes the bag. It seems she is going to give a demonstration.

"You can also get food" she pulls out a little Styrofoam plate with three fried rice balls and a toothpick stuck in each rice ball and gives them all to Thuc, who takes it, thank her, eat them quickly and throw the plate and toothpick away.

"clothes" she then pulls out a neatly folded M81BDU and a pith hat that did not look so different than those I have seen back in Vietnam. She gives them to Thuc who just held on to it.

"and shelter" She then pulls out a mosquito net, a folded up green blanket and a rolled up mattress…made of plant material, either rattan or some kind of grass.

This time she puts them on the ground beside her and then gives the bag to Thuc. He looks really happy with this bag, while Yung Ho looks intrigued and wants one too, it seems to me. The other two guys…are just looking on. I think that means the packs they are carrying must already be doing the same thing.

Well…it looks like we have a magical version of the Star Trek replicator. Quartermasters all around the world will be crying over the loss of their jobs if such a thing where to be released to the world.

"Umm, I have a question here Lieu Hanh. Exactly how does that bag work?" Daesun asks all of a sudden.

This sudden question got the attention of four of us. Why ask something that need not be asked?

"What do you mean Daesun?" the Vietnamese goddess asks.

"Well, is it a bag that creates something according to the wish of the one holding it, or is it more of a tear in space cunningly hidden inside a bag, and you are actually grabbing things from back home in Vietnam every time you put your hand inside it?"

"It is the latter. Is there a problem?" she answers.

Our eyes immediately went to the things that had been pulled out of the bag. The uniform…well, there is actually some Vietnamese writing there. I guess it must have been pulled off somewhere. Thuc looks at the AKM's and other stuff more carefully, searching for something. I guess he didn't like what he found because he grimaced and then says "These are all from different military bases in Vietnam." He even looks at the Styrofoam plate he threw away. There is something written on the plate.

"What is written there?" Yung Ho asks.

"This is from a fast food restaurant that is next to my grandson's school."

"So does that mean you just ate someone's order?"

"…apparently, yes."

Thuc looks disappointed with the bag. He then looks up and asked "Your holiness, what happens if I put these items back into the bag? Or any other thing"

"The ones you pull from the bag go back to where they came from, while the ones you put into the bag just stay there until you pull them out again." she replies.

"Thank you" he responds, and then he puts an AKM into the bag. And is surprised by some surprised shouts coming from inside. He quickly drops it and the shouts abruptly stop.

He then put the things back into the bag faster than before. Sometimes, there was a surprised voice from the bag, and the other times there was none. After he put them all back in, he zips the bag close, puts it on the ground and just looks at it with disappointment.

Well, I guess that phrase 'too good to be true' applies even to the magical world.

"Hey, if that shouting is someone seeing a gun suddenly appear from mid-air, I guess the VPA will have a new ghost story by this time tomorrow." Yung Ho jokes to lighten his mood.

Thuc chuckles weakly at the joke, seeing the humor in it. As for me, I smile at the silly idea of Vietnamese soldiers telling ghost stories like boy scouts telling campfire stories.

"So…your holiness, is there anything else?" Thuc asks, seemingly recovered from his brief bout of disappointment.

"Well…I think this would do" She then hands him a sword encased in a varnished wooden scabbard with a swordbelt.

And we see what a sword it was as Thuc pulls it from the scabbard.

It is a single edged blade that has only a slight curvature, the blade is so reflective it's as if it is a mirror that is made in the shape of a sword and the golden hilt, which I instantly know is made of gold as I see it for the first time, is encrusted with little rubies. No, it's more like the rubies had been mixed in with the gold when they made the hilt, like...cereals in milk.

Thuc looks pale. He looks up at Lieu Hanh and asks in a quavering way "This isn't what I think it is…is it?"

"It's Thuan Thien" she simply replies with a smile.

"Why?" he asks, the reverence in his voice audible even here, a dozen feet away from him.

"Because you need it. How can an old man who is resurrected in his body at the time of his death going to have the strength and abilities of a young man?"

"But Thuan Thien?! I am not worthy…Ho Chi Minh is infinitely more worthy of holding Thuan Thien."

The way Thuc is acting, it's as if the sword is a very important religious artifact…wait, is it one?

"Why do you think this sword has to be worthy of someone?"

"Because…it is the sword of Le Loi, one of Vietnam's greatest heroes…it is the thing that helped establish Dai Viet…" Thuc is at a loss for words with what he is hearing, it seems to me.

"And the sword is begging for one last adventure, one last war. Surely you would not deny Thuan Thien that request, would you?"  
>Huh? Begging for one what?<p>

"Huh?" is also Thuc's response while the others look more interested in this part of the conversation.

"Thuan Thien is a sword that has become partially sentient due to time and legend. Don't you feel it? The sword is BEGGING for another battle, especially in the hands of another Vietnamese."

Thuc looks at the sword that he is holding with both hands and he does so for…a long time.

After a while, I grow concerned that something strange has happened to Thuc. He is just standing there looking at the sword. I was about to grab the sword away from him when he suddenly looks up at Lieu Hanh, seemingly breaking off from that trance by himself.  
>"Did it just talk to me?"<p>

"Surprised?"

Thuc can only nod his head in agreement. And I am confused, so…

"What 'talk'? I didn't hear anything. Are you suggesting the sword can talk Thuc? Like Prince Valiant's Singing Sword?"

"It's not surprising Herbert" Yung Ho answers my question, gaining the attention of Thuc as well.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"The reason there are so many stories of Japanese swords that emit emotions to the one who wields them in Japanese fiction is because there were real life examples of swords that did such a thing in the past. The only reason why there are none now is because either World War 2 destroyed them or they have been hidden away by the local supernatural community. However, what I am surprised with by that sword you are holding Thuc is that a Vietnamese sword is doing such a thing."

Thuc's eyes narrow, and his face looks like he is getting defensive. He is opening his mouth about to say something when Daesun beat him to it.

"Actually, the reason why it's so rare to hear about non-Japanese weapons getting to that kind of awareness is because Japan IS a developed country. That means they can spread more information from more people about themselves than say…Vietnam or the Philippines. It is also partly because one generation after another of the Japanese fervently believes their swords have souls or something like that. Nothing can help but be affected by that kind of belief, even a goddess like me or Lieu Hanh here. And lastly, weapons that achieve that kind of awareness because of human interaction are also frequently mistaken with genuinely magical ones so nobody really counts even from the beginning."

"Mistaken with genuinely magical ones?"Thuc asks. "Then ThuanThien…"

"Is really the sword Le Loi used, but it did not come from Long Vuong and is not magical at first. It started gaining awareness when Nguyen Thrai spread the story of ThuanThien being a magical sword. All of Vietnam believed the story, and the sword started becoming an authentically special one, such that Le Loi himself knew fiction became reality when the sword started going through high quality Chinese steel like a very hot gold coin on butter. In the end, Le Loi offered it to Long Vuong at Ho Huan Kiem because he was convinced it was Long Vuong who gave the sword some magic. Pleased with the praise he is getting, he sent one of his turtles and the rest is Vietnamese legend."

"How did you get it from Long Vuong, your holiness?"

"When the Indochinese community met to discuss paying back our debt of honor to Herbert Ward by sending someone to help him, Long Vuong remembered about Thuan Thien and he said he will lend it to that person we send off to help. But not before he fixes the damage that ThuanThien had over the years of neglect, and not before...his exact words were 'I will be embarrassed if I did not take this opportunity to turn ThuanThien into the sword our people think I made it in the first place'"

"So…Thuan Thien is remade and is more powerful now than before? Will I have the strength of ten thousand men instead of one thousand men?"

"Thuan Thien is now indestructible as long as there is single Viet alive in the world we live in. It will give cut through anything that is hostile to you, that means an enemy's swords and their bodies, not mountains between you and your destination. And also you will have the strength, speed and…other attributes of a young healthy man."

"Just one man?" I ask, wondering what happened to Thuc's thousand men figure.

"A young, healthy member of the Dac Cong. Anything that says you will have the strength of more than ten men will quickly tear the body of any mortal apart" she replies.

"Dac Cong?" I was unfamiliar with this word.

"The Vietnamese Sappers, I think you Americans call them during the war. They are Vietnam's special forces nowadays." Thuc answers my question.

"Heh. Sounds good for you" Yung Ho says to him. In response, Thuc just thanks him. However, he says he has one last problem with Thuan Thien.

"What is it?" the Vietnamese goddess asks in a voice that has hints of exasperation in it.

"I could hypothetically use a spear in combat since it is somehow similar to bayonet drills, which I am familiar with. But I don't know how to use a sword."

Lieu Hanh looks at Thuc and then point to the sword saying with a little tone of impatience "I am sorry but please talk it out with Thuan Thien".

After that, she remained silent.

Thuc bows his head a little, thanking her for all the equipment and then walks forward to stand beside me and Yung Ho, carrying the three things he had been given by Lieu Hanh.

"Are you happy with what you got?" I ask. I am by now anxious to see what has happened to 'Annie', and excited to see what kind of equipment I would get.

Honestly, just the bag itself will have me shouting for joy. Never mind an indestructible rifle with unlimited ammunition that will always work perfectly. The only thing out of place for me is the sword, but hey, if the sword acts like one of those performance enhancing drugs you often hear about in sports except it works magically, then I would carry one, just don't expect me to draw it in actual combat.

"Aside from the bag, I am quite satisfied with what Lieu Hanh gave me. Now I just need to think about the bag's moral implications." his mood sour a little upon mentioning the bag.

"Ah, how about this way? The Irish goddess is a goddess of wealth from what I hear from Daesun. You could charge her for all the equipment you will be using from the VPA in solid gold. Just make sure you send the letter along with the gold and the guns back to the base, to explain what the gold is for." Yung Ho said.

The both of us look at him upon hearing his surprising idea.

"What a bright idea!" I say.

"Is it wise to antagonize a goddess?" Thuc asks.

"It looks to me like she is a little bit desperate to wipe off her debts and favors. She will go along with it just to clear them quickly. Besides, it's not as if you will need tons of gold. If things go as Annan says, we would not expend a lot of ammo here." Yung Ho explains.

Thuc nods, thinking about this idea. And then he said "It's not only brilliant. I might even help with the modernization program this way." He looks quite happy by now.

"What modernization program?" Yung Ho asks him.

"There's an ongoing modernization process in the works around the time I died and is surely continuing up to now. So…if I take equipment that are in the process of being phased out, and leave in their place gold, the army will have more time buying equipment and less time finding ways to dispose of the equipment." Thuc happily states.

"How will you even know what is being phased out?" I ask.

"I have close friends who are still in the army when I died. I also ask questions about what's new in the army when they come and visit our home sometimes. And I also visit my former workplaces sometimes when I am not looking over my family."

Yung Ho replies "Well, I am happy for you, still doing something to help your country even after death. Although visiting your workplaces sounds…are you doing that on the off chance you might scare somebody?"

"Thanks. And I am not trying to scare anybody, although there IS that one time I inadvertently caused a tightening of security in the base since I had left the door unlocked and the papers left in plain view on the desk when the one who is currently using my former office always put it in the drawer. But it is for the best."

"How can that be for the best?"

"The guards ARE slacking off. What if it wasn't me but a real spy or a saboteur? If I was alive I will scold the guards standing there."

"Good point."

"Yung Ho, I think Daesun is waiting for you." I pointed out to him after noticing Daesun trying to get my attention and pointing at him.  
>"Oh. Thanks Herbert." he said while walking closer to Daesun. Once he stopped a few feet from her, Daesun gives Yung Ho a complete M1956 LCE and an ARVN rucksack.<p>

"I can understand the rucksack, but an LCE?" Yung Ho asks her.

"Well…it was what I had been used to seeing on the ROK army, so it is the easiest for me to make. And I am sure that this is what you are used to, so there is no need to copy the latest equipment of the US army."

"You were considering the US army gear?"

"Yeah but I also considered the fact that it wasn't what you had been used to, and there have been complaints about MOLLE when I looked it up on the internet. Something about the fragility of certain parts and a flaw in its design, something about the bag hitting the lower back and eventually causing back injuries…so I just decided to stick with what I really know about."

"...thank you for your kind heartedness Daesun. I really, really appreciate it. Although…I could have just asked Thuc and Herbert about how to wear more modern gear."

Daesun blinks once, looking surprised. After a moment, she said "Oh. Yeah…I didn't think about that."

After another moment of thinking, she shrugs and then said "Well, what's done is done. I worked with what I know at the time. So, want to know what's different about this LCE, aside from it being made by divine spirits?"

"It is?"

"Well yes. All of it handmade instead of just taking an ordinary object and applying magic to it."

"Why?"

Daesun leans towards Yung Ho and whispers something to his ear. After a few moments, she leaned away.

Yung Ho has a pretty happy expression on his face after Daesun whispered. I wonder what it could be?

"So, back to the LCE. The ammo case does not contain ammunition since that problem has already been taken care off. Instead, it will make a grenade. Just think of any type of grenade you can think of, and it will instantly become available in the ammo case."

"Does it work like Thuc's bag?"

"No. Everything I give you will magically and instantly make something according to your will. From the ammo case, to the dressing case which will make medical supplies, and the field pack. As for the canteen, the water comes straight from every water source Korea has already purified."

"What will be the contents of the field pack?"

I think that is a good question.

"Hmm…every kind of ration that the US army had ever used from the American Revolution to the present."

Yung Ho just looks at her suspiciously.

"US…army rations? Well…" Then he looked at me, looking for help.

"Well, if she said rations from all periods of US history, then that's a lot of different kinds of food, so the problem of monotony is dealt with. You can even cook something good, just use the cans as an impromptu pan." I tell him loudly.

With a face that looks like he is placing his life on my words, he turns back to Dalsun.

"Where were we now?"

"The next one is the rucksack. It also works the same way as the field pack however what it produces are not only typical infantry weapons but also…more destructive ones."

More destructive ones? What does that mean?

Yung Ho also asks the same thing to Daesun.

"I think it will be easier to demonstrate. Please give me the rucksack." she holds out her arms waiting for Yung Ho to give the rucksack to her.

Once he did so, she opened the rucksack and then puts her arms inside the bag, up to her elbows in this case. Then she looks up at us.

"And now, here is," she suddenly stopped, suddenly looking at the bag. She then braced herself properly and then pulls.

It is obvious she is not used to the weight of whatever she is pulling. And indeed she will not be used to the weight, since Yung Ho already went near her to help her drag a…a very curiously shaped mortar round.

"Is that a mortar round?" I ask Thuc.

"Don't think so. It looks more like a huge RPG projectile, a very uniquely shaped one at…what is that yellow symbol?" Thuc suddenly shifted emotions, from being analytical to…frightened. Even his voice sounds freaked out.

I look back at the mortar round and noticed Yung Ho just holding the projectile and not moving at all staring at the…

God help us.

I never wished to see one of those in real life.


	8. ROKMC now has nukes and anti-magic

Chapter 8

I am looking at a nuke. Or what appears to be one.

I am looking at the thing which haunted the childhood of my generation, and the thing which still haunts the world today.

I look at the others. Thuc and Yung Ho are speechless and horrified. Connla and Javin are just looking at us curiously, wondering what are we being spooked about. And Lieu Hanh is looking at Daesun like she just did something crazy.

Which IS the point.

"Daesun, what the hell is that?" I ask, trying to know if she knows what she pulled out of there.

"It's an M388 nuclear projectile used as part of the Davy Crockett weapons system." she answers in a matter-of-fact voice.

It's a real nuke. Damn.

"May I put this…this thing back in the bag Daesun?" Yung Ho asks her. When she nods, he carefully puts it back into the rucksack and slowly let go of it. Once he had let go of it, he slowly steps away from the bag, looking at it in apprehension.

"Daesun, tell me, why do we need a nuke?" I ask the girl.

Daesun looks at us and then said one word.

"Insurance."

She then looked at the others and continues "I don't know what you guys will run into out there. Therefore, I am making sure you can fight back and kill whatever chases you."

"So you are giving these mortals a bag that will instantly make the mortal version of the Brahmastra…out of concern for your friend?" Lieu Hanh sighs, and then said in an amazed tone "If not for the nuclear bomb, I would say that your effort is admirable."

At those words, Daesun looks at Lieu Hanh just like someone who is guilty of something, an action that had the Vietnamese deity raising one of her eyebrows.

Her next words actually suggest this might be the case.

"I don't think the other part of the magic that comes along with this bag is going to make you and many other beings happy."

At Lieu Hanh's puzzled look, she turned back to Yung Ho and pulled a…

"What kind of gun is that?" I asked Thuc, having very limited knowledge of any firearms introduced later than 1970 since I never saw a need to know much more, especially since I have more important things to do, like work and family.

Thuc's eyes narrowed trying to look at the gun. Then he started to softly mutter to himself, his words not really audible to me at this point. He then stopped muttering, shakes his head in the negative and looked at me, shrugging at the same time.

"Honestly Herbert, I have no idea other than it uses a STANAG magazine and that it isn't from any of Vietnam's neighbors."

We were interrupted by Daesun giving the rifle to Yung Ho while looking in our direction. Then the next words she says confounded me and Thuc.

"Mr. Thuc, may I borrow an AK-74?"

"You know how to use a gun?" Thuc asks in curiosity.

"I got lessons" she says with a smile at us.

"From where?" I whisper in Thuc's direction as he is giving the rifle, along with a magazine, to the Korean goddess. The only answer I got from him is a shrug of the shoulders.

To my surprise, she quickly loads the magazine, pulls back the bolt, switches the safety off and had the AK ready to fire in a few seconds.

It is jarring to say the least. Here is this young, cute girl dressed in folk costume, with eyeglasses on to complete the innocent look, handling one of the most iconic and famous guns in the world like a professional.

The next thing that she did reminds me that this isn't any ordinary girl. While holding the AK, muzzle pointed down at the ground with her right hand, she raised her left one, looked to her left and…

Suddenly, a flat disc as tall as I am and made of silver colored light with Asian looking characters all over it appears out of nowhere around twenty meters away from her, behind Lieu Hanh who was suspiciously looking back and forth between the gun and the lightshow behind her.

"What's that?" I ask Daesun.

"A cast and forget shield spell."

I blinked in surprise, both from the claim and some of the words she said.

Why do the words 'cast and forget' sound suspiciously like something I had heard in the military?

"...is it something like Star Wars?" I asked, since the only thing like that lightshow I am currently seeing is that from Star Wars, which I had managed to watch…sometimes.

"Yes. This is a magical force field. Now as to what I am going to do, I think it's simpler to include a demonstration along with the explanation. If you would please step out of the firing line Lieu Hanh?"

Once everything between her and the magical force field is devoid of anyone, she faces us humans, the AK cradled with both left and right hands now while the strap is around her neck, takes a deep breath, and starts to explain, complete with one of her index fingers raised and waving around.

"Now, for the benefit of all of who don't have any experience with modern magical combat, I will explain the magic force field and ways of dealing with it."

"Modern?" Yung Ho suddenly asks.

Daesun quickly answered, as if she is in a classroom. "Yes, modern. The supernatural world actually got the idea for magical force fields from the United States in the last century, around the time Star Trek appeared. The first one is made by some Native American spirits, and from them the idea quickly caught on around the world in around a few months. Now, to continue the explanation, a magical force field is any kind of pure magic used for the protection of someone or something behind it from anything that seeks to do you direct harm. And there are only two ways of breaking one. One is to also use magic, this time against the magical force field. The other one is to use physical force against the magical force field. A lot of physical force."

Surprisingly, the next question of this discussion didn't come from me, Thuc or Yung Ho but from Javin.

"Your holiness, are you perhaps saying a cannon can destroy a magical…force field?"Javin unsurprisingly stumbled upon the word force field in uncertainty. Not surprising if you consider that with the British accent and the percussion cap rifle, I can guess that he lived in 18th century India, and a lot of words and terms that is frequently used or somewhat heard in modern American English did not exist in those times in America, much more Britain's crown colony.

Daesun smiles like a teacher, happy that her student is asking questions.

"Exactly. However, it depends on how much magic has been fed, or is being fed into the force field. For example, this," and she points with her left hand at the magical force field she cast "is a cast and forget force field spell. It's used when you are being chased or attacked by enemies, and you need some badly needed moment to prepare something offensive against your enemy with very minimal usage of magic. You cast it between your enemy and you, and even if he or she is physically or magically stronger than you by more than a hundred times, they lose a few moments of time because they had to deal with the shield in SOME way."

"So in other words it is simply dropping sharp objects in the path of someone chasing you?" I said, my mind flashing back to those James Bond movies I watched when I was in Hawaii on the way back home, where Bond managed to shake off his pursuers using some gadgets that had been installed in his Ashton Martin.

"Not exactly sharp objects. More like entire sheets of stained glass" she answered.

Now I understand how this kind of force field is used.

If a sheet of glass suddenly appeared between you and somebody you are chasing, you have three options: Going around it, Stopping immediately and then quickly finding something to break the glass or lastly, Hope you are moving fast enough and are heavy enough to crash through it with minimal injuries or else you will get hurt.

And even if you choose one of those options, your opponent had for a time, blocked your vision so you also had to spend additional time to look for their position, time they could have spend preparing to attack you from another position or to run away.  
>Daesun continued her explanation.<p>

"Now, the cast and forget type of force field is the weakest kind of force field around, since it is made to only delay or distract the enemy. However, to show you what it takes to destroy one using non-magical weaponry or force, I will fire on my force field with a typical AK 74."

After saying this, she raises the AK in a firing position and started firing away at the magical shield in semi-auto mode.

By the twentieth shot the light of the force field started flickering every time it is hit with a bullet.

By the time Daesun shot off everything in the magazine, there is…still no noticeable change in the magical shield other than that flickering of the light.

"Thirty consecutive 5.45mm rifle rounds and nothing to show for it." Thuc comments in a worried tone.

"Actually there is some damage to the force field, you just have to look closer." Daesun replies. As she said this and turns to us, the shield suddenly moved along with the direction her face is looking at from over there to over here, between Daesun and Yung Ho, and the rest of us.

Upon closer inspection, I see that as she had said there is some damage.

Damage not worth anything in a life or death situation, that is.

"It's like someone used an ice pick on 1 inch plywood. How does that help?" I said finally, and feeling a little scared myself.  
>Is this kind of thing what every single potential opponent I will face have readily available? I recall that in Star Wars, force fields need…more firepower than a single person can carry to bring down.<p>

There's only 6 of us on this job.

"Actually, if this is what 5.45mm rounds do to a magical force field, think about what heavier ammunition can do." Yung Ho says from the other side.

"Like cal. 50?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Using anti-tank weapons and rifle grenades from the start is better...but…" Thuc wondered from my side, trailing off at the end.  
>"But what?" I ask.<p>

"RPG's aren't exactly something you can reload quickly, nor are they…something you could aim like a rifle."

"And considering the fact that they are also explosives…" Yung Ho said but not finishing the sentence.

"We are going to get hurt, a lot, if these shields are too near to us." I continue from where he stopped.

"Moving back to the original topic," Daesun said, trying to steer the conversation back to where she wants it "Now, can I have two RPG 7's and another magazine for the AK-74, Mr. Thuc?"

"Why two, your holiness?" I hear from the other side of the force field that is slowly dissolving, revealing Yung Ho looking at Daesun in curiosity and…I think that is doubt.

"Watch." she says as she made not one, but two cast and forget magical force fields, at the same time. One is as large as the one Daesun had cast before, while the one behind it is twice as large. After this she takes one of the RPG's that Thuc gave her and hold it in firing position.

"Firing in three!" Daesun yells as a warning to us. When the countdown reaches one, the RPG fires off into the magical force field. The effect suddenly brought to my mind the image of a talking and walking tank.

'Where did that thought come from?'

The smaller force field cracked like a car's windshield upon being hit by a sledgehammer, and yet no pieces broke off or fell from the force field.

I am saying it again, for my own benefit , since I don't think I really want to believe what I saw.  
>The force field only cracked and did not break apart into pieces. Something that is just as thick as a sewing thread only cracked when an RPG hit it right in the center.<p>

Then the AK started firing off. This time, the shield is visibly being damaged. This time glowing sparks as little as those made by a welding rod when being used, are falling lazily to the ground like snowflakes in winter, coming from the spots where the bullets are hitting the shield. And even now, the bullets are still turning into something that looks like a fried egg before falling down onto the grass.

The force field finally smashed apart into pieces only when Daesun finally uses the second RPG on it. And even then, the result is not very satisfactory, because instead of lots of tiny pieces going off in that direction, we got 5 large, jagged and cracked pieces that can still fit together like a jigsaw puzzle if you tape them together, getting thrown into the force field behind it, which did not show ANY damage at all.

"So, do you now understand what it takes to break one with non-magical weaponry?" Daesun asks.

"Walking, talking tanks with armor factories in it." I softly mutter to myself.

"What kind of warhead did you give her? A defective one?" Yung Ho asks Thuc.

"I gave her HEAT rounds, and they are relatively new ones too." he answers back.

"If I may have your attention now sirs." We hear Daesun say, trying to not let the discussion digress.

She continues talking after we immediately quiet down.

"Now this," when she said the word 'this', she holds up the assault rifle that she pulled out of the rucksack.

"This is a K2 assault rifle, made by Daewoo Precision Industries as the replacement of the M16 rifle for the ROK armed forces in the 1980's."

I heard Thuc mutter "so that's where it came from" from my side.

"Now, this particular K2 rifle is the 4,444thof its kind made by Daewoo Precision, which I appropriated from the ROK Marine Corps through some friends I made in the past week."

"What?" Yung Ho looks at Daesun in suspicion and terror, mirrored by Thuc beside me.

"I didn't steal it Yung Ho, if that is what you are worried about. I asked for it and it was given to me."

"By who?" Yung Ho persists in asking Daesun, but now seemingly spooked by something other than this piece of information.  
>"By people in authority."<p>

Yung Ho blinked a few times, and then his eyes opened wide. Whatever he had been terrified with is seemingly forgotten by this new piece of information.

"What did you do to the Daejang who you got this from? And why does the serial number even exist?" he cries out.

"Actually he is a Jungjang. And I asked for it so he made arrangements and then gave it to me. Don't ask me why they have a rifle with the serial number 4,444 in their inventory, I don't know either." she answered, along with a shrug.

"Are…are you telling me the ROK navy and by extension, the government itself, is now aware of your existence? The confirmed existence of the supernatural world?" he asks in a quiet voice filled with disbelief and growing horror.

"Oh don't get too scared. Only the Marine Corps headquarters and the 6th Marine brigade knows about me. And they would not talk about it with anyone else, since they do want to keep their jobs, not get discharged for medical reasons."

"Oh merciful Buddha and all my ancestors, save us from idiots." I heard Thuc mutter from the side, in a mix of horror and…humor?  
>I couldn't agree more with his sentiment.<p>

Imagine if any military force out there had access to even just these simple things that these goddesses are giving us. Or to more examples of magic that I still have not seen. They could now have more of an ability to hurt those above their weight class with no money spent. Oh well, at least this is an ally of the United States…wait a minute.

"Thuc, you aren't thinking about doing something like helping out the VPA from beyond the grave…are you?" I ask him in a whisper, slowly turning my head to look at him.

Thuc looks at me and gives me a look that says 'are you kidding me?'

Well, at least Thuc isn't thinking of doing something like that. The Vietnamese are tough guys to fight against without anything supernatural behind them. I refuse to think of how much tougher they will be if they have magic.

'And yet, why do I have this feeling that I just misinterpreted something?'

"You know, a lot of people are not going to be happy with this news Daesun." Lieu Hanh states, in a tone that is definitely not amused, from where she is standing.

"Don't worry. The terms I came up with the ROKMC is that supernatural assistance are only, and only, for North Korea or when something out of context of the ROK armed forces attacks Korea." Daesun replies.

"I am not referring to that. I am referring to those xenophobic counterparts of ours in Yamato Japan."

"Oh let them complain. This agreement will not hurt them anyway since I don't think Japan or Korea wants a round two of the Imjin war. To be fair to the Yamato, not EVERY god and spirit in Yamato Japan is xenophobic, let alone the ancestor spirits," Daesun paused for a second, and then continues "Only one or two out of fifteen are xenophobic, I think."

Lieu Hanh suddenly chuckles at this. Then she suddenly asks in a curious tone "Is that from personal experience?"

Daesun nods with a somewhat peeved expression.

That is…educational, I think.

Racism among supernatural communities. Is that crap from us humans or was that already there before we came along?

Daesun suddenly goes back to her exposition about this particular rifle, the peeved look on her face gone with the wind.

'Now I'm accidentally making puns about the South? This day just keeps getting stranger and stranger'

"Now, this rifle is the first test of this new spell I had created that is now present with everything that will come out of that rucksack and the grenades that will come from the ammo case."

"What does this new spell do?" Yung Ho asks.

Daesun smiled. And then she walks away from us, until she is around ten meters away.

She then looks in the northwest direction (if you consider what you are facing to be the north), and twenty cast and forget force field spells suddenly appeared, along with another circle of light that feels different from the earlier ones.

That final disc of light looks no different from the other ones, and yet if you look at it, you suddenly feel calm. You suddenly feel safe and scared. You suddenly feel the lust of a lover at night and the loneliness of a widower at night (God knows I always feel that at night these days). You suddenly feel you are looking at the moon.

I look at Daesun, who is slowly glowing with moonlight, even while it is clearly afternoon and the sun is still up in the sky.  
>Lieu Hanh suddenly speaks up with a very, very interested tone.<p>

"Daesun, what are you going to do with a Sustained Effort force field? Especially one that you are pouring a lot of magic into right now?"

Daesun smiled, looked at Lieu Hanh and said "Like I said earlier, just watch."

She immediately brings the K2 rifle to bear on the force fields and fired. And what a difference it made this time compared with the AK 74.

The first shot went through 3 force fields before getting embedded in the 4th one, which smashed apart into glowing dust falling to the grass in one second. The first three also started to fall apart on their own, cracks growing until the force field is almost colored white with the number of cracks that appeared. And only then did the stricken things get blown apart into glowing dust by a very gentle breeze.

Then she pulls the trigger again. And again.

In 5 shots, she destroyed twenty magical force fields that can each withstand two RPG shots at close range. The only thing left is the final disc of light which Lieu Hanh called a sustained effort force field.

Here Daesun hesitated for a few moments, looking like she isn't sure of something. Then she pulls trigger one more time…  
>And surprises me with a yell of pain and surprise, the kind you give off when you prick yourself with a needle, or when you drop something on your toe. She immediately drops the rifle on the ground while her hands are on both sides of her forehead and her eyes tightly shut.<p>

Thankfully, the rifle did not go off, especially since the direction it dropped at is straight at me.

Something I will thank God for when I go to sleep later.

"Are you alright, your holiness?" Yung Ho asks her in a worried tone.

Daesun is muttering something to herself, and based on her expression I think she is berating herself for doing something stupid, and didn't notice Yung Ho until he pokes her.

When she looked at him with…blood shot eyes, he hands her a few pills of aspirin taken from his dressing case and his water bottle container.

"Thank you Mr. Cha." she says in a voice that makes it obvious she is still suffering from a very bad headache.

Taking the pills and downing them with the water bottle, she closed her eyes and took a few breaths while standing better now.

"Damn it, why isn't the pain going away?" she softly says to herself.

"Perhaps the bullet melting through the force field is the reason for it" Javin comments from where he is standing.  
>I look at the last force field, which has lost whatever property that makes it very special to the eye, to see a curious sight which I don't know whether to treat as scary or…something.<p>

The bullet is embedded in the sustained effort force field and at the same time is melting its way through the field towards the ground. While the speed it is melting through is not fast, the sight of what otherwise is an ordinary bullet melting through something you think is at least as tough as the mountain NORAD is under is giving me the creeps.

Suddenly the force field blinked out of existence and the bullet, embedded in nothing anymore, fell to the grass. Upon looking at Daesun, I see her looking better already but not completely recovered.

"Mr. Cha, would you please speculate on what this gun does?" she said with what appears to be an effort at a smile, marred by lingering pain.

"Well," Yung Ho, confused with this change in the flow of the conversation, tries to answer as best as he can "since that bullet melted through a force field, I believe it is undoing the magic in it."

"But undoing, or as Ratri calls it, uninstalling anything magical is like pulling the wrong block and ending a game of Jenga. You just pull away until the whole structure dissolves itself apart. Nothing magical…does what just happened."

"It hurt you even though you are not hit by the bullet." Yung Ho offers in an unsure voice.

Daesun frowns.

"That is something I honestly did not expect. Any more ideas?" she finally looks recovered, along with a real smile on her face.  
>When Yung Ho shrugs, she finally continues her question, trying to lead him to something.<p>

"What do we East Asians believe about the number four?"

"It is unlucky because it sounds like the word for death."

"And if something has four 'four' to itself? Like that gun, which is the 4,444th of its kind made by Daewoo?"

Yung Ho opens his mouth to say something, then closed it and looks at what he is holding with a look of horror.

"Now you see? That gun is just like Thuan Thien, affected by the belief of many people it turned into something special. The only difference is this time instead of a few million people believing, this time the belief of more than one BILLION people are behind that gun…so if you compare Thuan Thien and that gun, it would be like comparing a revolver to a minigun."

"What exactly did that gun do Daesun? Or should I say Daesun-nim?" Lieu Hanh asks suddenly. When I looked at her, I see that she is glaring at Daesun.

Daesun looks at Lieu Hanh for a moment. And then she said "It makes magic and anything that is not normal to a human die or go away in one hit. Didn't you feel it? Did you not notice?"

"I did. Yet I…as the Americans say it, 'poolchet'"

"The correct pronunciation is bullshit." I corrected her.

"And I thank you for that, Mr. Ward." she said, quickly looking at me. Then she turns back to Daesun. "You can deny someone access to magic, but you can't kill magic. No one-"

"'That One' did it" Daesun interrupts.

Lieu Hanh blinks in surprise at those words.

"The God of the Christians and Muslims? That one is different from you-"

"I know that Lieu Hanh. But I honestly didn't expect something like this when I tried to tap human belief."

"Excuse me ladies" I interrupt. "What is this about God and killing magic?"

The two goddesses look at me, then at each other. Then Daesun shrugs. Lieu Hanh answers me.

"It was just a very outrageous incident that happened in the past between Yahweh and the Egyptian pantheon. And 'that One' did the same thing as this gun did, kill the magic in everything in that mountain…what was it called again?"

"Horeb." Daesun answers.

"Thank you. Now as I was saying, Yahweh killed the magic in that place and the Egyptians pantheon at the same time. And then raised it back to life a moment later as a lesson. The Egyptians hated Yahweh ever since."

"I see…I think I know a possible reason why human belief can do the same thing that God did."

"Really? What is it?" Daesun eagerly asks me.

"Man is made in God's image by God himself." I smile while saying this.

I get an awkward silence from them.

"You do realize that you're saying that to two goddesses from two different religions, right?" Lieu Hanh asks me, not amused by what I said. Daesun and Connla on the other hand are laughing out loud at me. And the others…are just looking at me like I am someone weird.

"Shut up Daesun." Lieu Hanh yells at her.

"But the idea is funny to me" After saying this, Daesun breaks down into giggles this time.

"You might be humored by it since no one worships you. I on the other hand, am offended by the notion."

"If I have offended you, then I apologize for the unintended offense." I sheepishly say to Lieu Hanh.

She just looks at me, nod, and then looks away. I take that to mean she is accepting my apology, however grudging it may be. She then turns back to Daesun.

"I can live with the fact that you managed to make a weapon this deadly to most supernatural beings. What I can't accept is you lending this to a human."

"Lieu Hanh, Mr. Cha here is someone I can trust since his family took care of me a long time ago. Besides, I could ask the same thing to you. Why did you and your fellows decide to lend Thuan Thien to Mr. Thuc?"

"We have that big a debt of honor to Mr. Ward here."

"Not that reason. Isn't it because Thuan Thien is the most dangerous weapon in the inventory of the Viets that also has a safety switch in case the sword is misappropriated and used against the Viets?"

The last time I have personally seen anyone get shut up so quickly with such an embarrassing expose was…well, it was a man cheating on his wife in Buckhorn, with a mistress in Louisville. The bastard had children with both and…the moment both women found out, especially as it turned out the two are close relatives…it's ugly.

Very ugly.

And I hope it doesn't turn ugly here, as Lieu Hanh here is a pagan goddess possibly capable of only God knows what when truly angered.

Thankfully, she took the…expose quite well.

"I don't know what you are talking about." she says.

Yeah. Very well, as well as Nixon did at first when Watergate happened.

Daesun smiles. "Yeah, you don't. Rest assured Lieu Hanh, this particular…weapons system also has a safety switch, in case anyone gives me grief over me not doing so. But I don't believe I will need to do so since" and at saying this word she looked at Yung Ho. "You won't be using this on anyone that did not deserve it, will you Mr. Cha?"

"No I will not your holiness." Yung Ho says in the most serious tone of voice possible.

"So Thuc, how do you feel hearing that?" I whisper to him.

I felt bad for him since…it has to hurt, being distrusted by your role model or god. I know I would feel bad if an angel of the Lord says that God doesn't trust me.

Thuc just shrugs nonchalantly.

"It makes sense to me if you consider magical weapons in the same way the Russians see their nuclear submarines."  
>"What about the Soviet subs?" I ask curiously, wondering how the Russians got into the conversation.<br>"Political commissars to prevent the submarines from defecting or doing something funny. What, have you never heard of 'The Hunt for Red October'?"

"I…yeah. I saw that one when it appeared."

I especially remember the main character named Jack Ryan. Good guy, a great role model for being an American in spite his being a Papist.

I then turn back to watch Daesun continuing her explanation to Yung Ho.

"-thus every weapon you pull from this rucksack, and the grenades from the magazine pouch, will also have the same magic killing abilities."

"What other kinds of weapons?"

"All the latest man-portable equipment the ROKMC has, along with the Davy Crockett special. That's why you need to memorize these."

At that word, she passed a book, which just came from nowhere, to him and continued explaining. "In that field manual are information and instructions for all the different kinds of weapons the ROKMC currently has, since you need it if you are to take a weapon out from that bag."

"Why?"

"You have to know what the weapon looks like and how it works for those bags to work. Now…did I forget to mention anything?" She mutters to herself at the end.

"Is there any limit to what this weapons system, as you called it?"

Daesun snaps her fingers, saying "I knew I forgot something."

Turning back to Yung Ho, she starts speaking.

"I tweaked the K2 rifle to make the belief that surrounds it to affect that bag, but there is a drawback. I could apply less magic than usual because of the magic killing effect so you have to remember two things. First, is that you have infinite ammunition, in the sense that you can pull out an infinite amount of fully loaded magazines out of that bag. So you still have to count how many bullets are left in the magazine and reload."

Thuc nods to show he understands.

That sounds reasonable. The only thing that changed is you can literally pull out fully loaded magazines out of nowhere for as long as you need to.

"Two, any other gun you pull out of that bag is disposable, you can just have the bag make another one. But not the K2 rifle. You can only pull out the 4,444th rifle from that bag. If you lose it…the rucksack stops working. For all intents and purposes, you are disarmed."

That…doesn't sound bad. It's not as if anyone just throws their main weapon away.

"But why, your holiness?" Yung Ho asks.

Daesun shrugs.

"I had a lot of difficulty just making the magic work with that gun. Eventually, I managed to do it, but that gun is…like the clay you use for pottery. You have a kiln ready, you have the firewood there, and the potter's wheel here along with the sticks you are going to use for making decorations. But it's all for nothing if you don't have the clay to turn into a pot."  
>Hmm…I understand the topic she is talking about now. Carpentry, my livelihood, is for me something related to the fine arts, so I read up on that subject.<p>

Painting and sculpting didn't interest me, but of all things, pottery did interest me for some reason. Must be because it is so utilitarian.

I even tried my hand at making one of those Yangshao pots from China.

'And I made a faithful and accurate reproduction, if I do say so myself'

"Your holiness, I must ask. What defines 'lost' in this case?" Yung Ho asks, interrupting my reminiscing.

"Well...leaving it anywhere farther than a kilometer from the bag counts as lost. Another is nothing there is unbreakable, even the rifle."

"Then I might pull out something defective?"

"No. Every gun that comes out there is brand new and in factory condition. And by brand new I mean 'just made a day ago by the factory' new. No chance of anything being defective. But they are also just like normal guns. If a tank runs right over the K2 rifle, it will be just as crushed as a normal K2 rifle will be."

"So the only difference between this rifle and normal ones are that it kills magic and I have an uncountable number of reloads?"  
>"More like whatever you pull out of that bag will go through magic like it was nothing, compared to normal ones. Even the Davy Crocket (I shivered as she said this) is like that."<p>

Yung Ho looks at the rifle, and then at the bag. Then he looks up at Daesun and shrugs.

"Then I will not risk losing the K2 rifle. I will just drag out the other guns…I believe the label is a K1 carbine. Or the infamous M16 in the manual."

"Well…I guess that works too. …Wait, infamous?" she asks in a puzzled tone of voice.

"The XM16E1." he said in an unhappy tone.

"That piece of crap before the M16A1? How did you know about it?" I have to ask.

I had this unstoppable urge to ask. Considering he gave the name of the nightmarish piece of crap that killed many of those who used it, I fear the same thing might have happened to him.

Yung Ho grumbles. "How would I not know. We had the same problem with those garbage called guns when the U.S. army gave us some, to replace our outdated weaponry they said. We ended up still using M1 Garands and Carbines all the way until I died in '66."  
>"So, is that the reason you got killed?" Thuc asks from beside me.<p>

I just look at Thuc, amazed at his insensitivity. Which Thuc notices.

"Herbert, it may sound insensitive to you, but from one dead person to another it is just an ordinary question."

"Restless ghosts and revenants" I said as a challenge.

"Don't get angry by you asking questions. They get angry by you doing something they don't like, which could be as silly as simply being alive."

"…if that is the case, then I don't have anything more to say about it."

I gave him that, especially after thinking through what he said and through some horror movies I have heard about. And he is partly right, now that I think about it. From the ghost stories I have heard, ghosts haunt people because they either want revenge or they just felt like it.

"So, Yung Ho?" Thuc went back to asking the Korean man.

"I am fortunate to not die like that." Yung Ho proudly said. Then he grumbles "I just got shot dead by a bastard of a sniper after a battle was over."

This is a sentiment I can completely understand, having been shot by one myself in Vietnam.

"Don't let my wife hear that. She fancies herself a sniper." Thuc halfheartedly warns Yung Ho, with an amused tone of voice.  
>"Fancies?" I ask.<p>

I remember the girl from that night. She has shoulder length hair and a cute face. Very easy on the eyes, now that I think about it. But the most memorable thing is that she is looking at my face but her rifle is aimed at my groin. That…did not feel comfortable.  
>"Technically she is a marksman, not a sniper. And also, she is…a pretty bad one."<p>

"Bad one? Then why is she still called the marksman?"

"Because while she hits her targets eight out of ten times, she never managed to kill anyone, despite how much she tries to make her shots kill. They mysteriously just wound the target in either a normal way or an embarrassing way."

"Define embarrassing." Yung Ho says in a deadpan tone, something which I am also feeling since I think I know where this is going.  
>Thuc was quiet for a moment, then he recites.<p>

I am not joking. He recites the next words.

"She accidentally circumcised one ARVN soldier, castrated three others, shot the buttocks of four while two women militia got partial mastectomies. All of those are in addition to the twelve normal gun shots she managed to deliver during the battle of Phuoc Long."  
>Let me correct myself. It was worse than I thought, so bad that I can't say anything in response.<p>

Judging from the silence around me, I think the others also can't say anything.

"…can we never discuss that again elder Thuc?" Connla asks in a somewhat scared tone of voice.

That tone of voice is perfectly understandable since I also feel it, now that I understand how close I came to being castrated that night in Cambodia.

"What discussion?" Thuc says in response.

And that said everything that needed to be said about that digression.

"So, where did we stop?" Daesun said to regain control of the whole thing.

"We stopped at the rucksack" I answer.

"Well then. Let me ask a question Mr. Ward. Are bayonets still used nowadays?"

I blinked. And then think about it.

"The last time I heard on the news, the British did a bayonet charge in Iraq around…two years ago?" I asked looking at Thuc.  
>"You are thinking about the Battle of Danny Boy in 2004. And to answer your question, bayonets and knives are still useful in modern close quarters combat." Thuc answers.<p>

"The British are still doing bayonet charges?" Javin asks incredulously.

"I think it is a British trademark, along with tea" I comment.

"Well if it is still that useful…I guess this would be alright with you Yung Ho?"

And as she said this she reached into a pocket on her dress, and pulls out a…

"Is that a sword made of stone?" Connla asks from beside Javin, and he did so with a very curious and professional way.  
>As Connla said it, it is a sword made from stone. Roughly carved from what seems to be white marble with veins of green material (presumably jade) all throughout the sword and around 45 cm long by my reckoning.<p>

"Yes. Why? Don't you have these in your time too? How about you Mr. Lad?"

"I have seen sculptures on temples that show swords. But I have never seen an actual stone sword." Javin says to her.  
>"I have seen some stone maces and spearheads before. Except for sling stones, stone weapons are considered as the desperate man's weapon, something you make when you just lack anything to barter with for even a poorly made iron sword. But a stone<br>sword…well, it does look like the short swords of the Arevaci but stone?" Connla says in a perplexed way.

"Believe it or not, stone swords were used in our part of the world, and it was quite effective. Just ask the Yamato who died because of imported Korean swords." Daesun said proudly. Then she continues. "And as for your concerns about easily broken stone swords, this is an ancient and newly magical sword, so that is a moot point."

"What magic does it have?" Yung Ho asks.

"Well, first off it is also indestructible as long as Pyongyang exists."

Yung Ho had a coughing fit. And then looks incredulously at Daesun.

Thuc, me and surprisingly Lieu Hanh, pretty much did the same thing, while Javin leaned towards Connla and asked what the big deal is.

To my surprise (and Thuc's, seeing as he was also looking at Connla) he started giving a very short version of the Korean War to Javin.

"Pyongyang! Why Pyongyang of all places?!" Yung Ho's near shout brings my attention back to the more important conversation.

"It IS near Asadal, isn't it?"

"Asadal?...How old is that sword?" he asks seriously.

"I borrowed it from Dangun." Daesun answers with a smile on her face, looking like she is expecting something.

Yung Ho just looks at her.

"Dangun? Dangun the founder of Asadal? Gojoseon? Dangun the son of Hwanung? That Dangun?"

"Yes that Dangun."

Yung Ho looks at the sword, then back to her suspiciously.

"Surely you must be joking. Why is he using a stone sword in a time when bronze is available? Surely a bronze dagger is the more befitting weapon, as well as the more dangerous one."

Daesun looks at Yung Ho curiously.

"You do remember that Gaecheonjol is 2333 years before the birth of the Christian's Jesus, right?"

"Wait. We humans got that right?" Yung Ho asks in a shocked tone.

Daesun chuckles while answering him.

"Yes. While I have to warn you that not everything in every legend and mythological story with humans in it is true, most of them are not wrong either."

"How about the legend about you and your brother?"

"That is a secret. Now going back to Gaecheonjol, bronze only became available in Korea around 900 years before the birth of Jesus. So science will support me when I say that there are no bronze objects in Korea in Dangun's time."

"Oh. I see."

"Why do you sound dismayed in the first place?"

"…pardon me for saying this but as much as I would like to, I don't think I can use Dangun's sword properly. In fact, the only way I know how to use a sword is in a Geommu."

"Hwangchang killed Baekje's king with a sword dance. And speaking of Geommu…you do that?"

"It is a folk dance. It's a stereotype to say that only Kisaeng learn to how to perform it, when the Kisaeng are only the most famous performers of it. And as for Hwangchang, no. That is an assassination, not a sword fight."

"…you can use it like a machete?...Well, why don't you try handling it first?"

"…if you insist your holiness" Yung Ho gave in to Daesun's...is that the infamous puppy eyes of something I kept hearing from Annie?  
>...it must be an effective weapon for debates, seeing as a Korean marine gave in to someone doing it.<p>

Upon hearing this, Daesun let up that puppy eye look and smiles, in the same way your wife smiles upon winning a fight with you. She then quickly hands the sword over to Yung Ho, who takes hold of it in his left hand and then went into a basic knife fighter's stance.

"It's light. Very light for something made of stone" he comments in a surprised tone as he slowly made the basic motions that were taught to us in the military.

Which is mostly thrusts and slashes along the nine angles of attack on a human body, namely:

The left side of the defender's head, neck, or torso,

The right side of the defender's head, neck, or torso,

The left side of the defender's torso in the ribs, side, or hip region,

The right side of the defender's torso in the ribs, side, or hip region,

Straight toward the defender's front,

Straight down upon the defender

The defender's lower-left side

The defender's lower-right side and finally,

Straight up to the defender's groin.

"That's another thing I did to the sword. It is as light as an ordinary dagger, but if it hits your opponent, then that instantly changes into a half kilo of unbreakable, magical jade moving at the speed of your swing."

So it really is jade.

I didn't know jade also comes in white colors.

"That must hurt, however I am trained in using a blade which can also cut and slash aside from stabbing, which I can't really do with this sword…and it's a little bit too long for my taste." Yung Ho replies. By now, he is moving faster with the sword, and is also doing the whirl movement once or twice.

"Who said the sword is dull?" she asks.

Yung Ho stopped practicing with the sword and looks at her, then back to the sword, then at Daesun.

"The sword is clearly dull edged, your holiness."

"Give the sword to me for a while." she says, walking closer to Yung Ho.

After giving it to her, Daesun continues speaking "What you said earlier is what I want your opponent to think. However…" Daesun suddenly pulls a particularly long blade from grass somewhere around her feet and with one hand brought down the leaf on the sword's edge.

Surprisingly, the blade split into two despite the fact that she isn't holding the other end of the leaf. That tells me how sharp that dull looking thing is in reality.

"While unfortunately Morning Calm is not as sharp as Thuan Thien, it is as sharp as an obsidian blade and unbreakable, pretty much better than the ordinary knives issued by any military in my opinion."

"Morning Calm? Is that the name of the sword?" Yung Ho asks in a perplexed tone.

What is he being perplexed about?

"Yes it is…for the last few days." Daesun says in a mischievous tone of voice.

Yung Ho sighs and then asks why she named it that.

"Well…Dangun and me agreed that the time the sword got a name is long overdue, especially since he just called it 'the stone sword' when he was alive."

"So you decided to just use one of the other names of Korea for the sword's name?"

"It's not me but Dangun who decided to do so."

"But why that name?" Yung Ho went on speaking, this time in a dismayed tone "'Land of the Morning Calm' was given by foreigners, not Koreans. Why use that name instead of Joseon or Asadal?"

"He thought it was funny."

It was because of these words that I just saw the second most shocked person in my life.

'The most shocked people I have ever seen in life were…pretty much every bystander on that sidewalk when September 11 happened'  
>Daesun continued on, ignoring the look on Yung Ho's face.<p>

"He also said, and I quote, 'it is true that seeing the mornings of Asadal calm me, hence why I will call the stone sword 'Morning Calm'. Besides, it is my sword that I am naming, not the land'"

Yung Ho is shaking his head by now, seemingly trying to focus on other things.

"…I am curious as to how you became friends with Dangun in the first place, if I am getting the conversation right." he manages to say eventually.  
>"He has what in medical term is called transient insomnia, and it constantly afflicts him a few times in a year-" She stops suddenly at seeing Yung Ho's look of sheer disbelief, and then tries to answer it.<p>

"Yes, yes, I know that Dangun is the son of the Hwanung, son of Hwanim, who has control over my brother's light, making Dangun somebody related to sunlight and making him someone who normally would be awake in the day. Shocking, I know. But Dangun proved even a demi-god is not immune to insomnia. Or colds, now that I think about it."

"…I don't know whether to thank you or hate you for breaking my vision of Dangun as the great, holy king that he is."

Daesun started laughing. And laughed. And laughed some more.

"What are you laughing about Daesun?" I hear Connla ask in a…tone that is not far from laughing himself. Upon looking, I see that he really is not far from laughing himself, what with that big smile on his face.

"This is seriously the first time I heard somebody say that in real life. You only read something vaguely like that on web forums."  
>"Well you did just troll elder Yung Ho, no?" Connla says to her.<p>

…what did he just say? Troll? What does that mean?

"No I didn't troll Mr. Cha. I said the truth, I swear it. It just so happens that it sounds like something a troll will make up on the spot. Say, how do you know about online trolls anyway?"

Connla grins.

"I have a Yahoo mail account, as well as accounts in some websites."

Daesun blinks.

I also blink in surprise.

"How?" I managed to ask before Daesun got her question off, leading her to look at me with some irritation, to which I respond with an apologetic shrug.

One which thankfully she accepts.

"It's a long story elder Ward, and not one to tell here since we are still trying to finish here. I do promise that I will tell the story later."

That got me looking at Daesun, who quickly notices it. Immediately she gave the sword back to Yung Ho and takes out something from the front pocket of her skirt.

That something turned out to be five pendants. The pendant is remarkably crude, just an irregularly shaped piece of rock as big as an eyeball with a little eye bolt screwed into the rock. And the thread is made of sinew.

"What is this supposed to be?" I ask, expecting a strange answer after all the other sights.

"Your magical night vision devices." she answers.

And as I looked at her I saw that she isn't joking.

"And how much can we see through them if we wear them at night?" Thuc and Yung Ho ask at the same time, which had them looking at each other in surprise and then smiling in amusement.

"If you wear this, every place that is normally dark to you will be bathed in the same light that is regularly available on the lunar surface. This applies whether it is indoors without any windows or you are underground or whether it is a new moon or a stormy night."

"Won't we also get illuminated by the sunlight?" Thuc asks the Korean goddess.

"The only ones who will see the light and the resulting shadows are you. Or whoever wears the pendant."

"Well, that is much better than what I had to work with during VC night operations." Thuc says with a chuckle.

"Much, much better" Yung Ho agrees with Thuc.

As if I am walking on the moon itself…well Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin didn't need any night vision devices during the Apollo 11 mission. And the pictures taken on the moon show that there is enough light for a gunfight, although the shadows are big enough to hide someone.

I'd say that's good enough for me.

"How do you know what the surface of the moon looks like?" Javin asks Daesun.

I am about to answer Javin when Daesun beat me to it.

"I am the moon, according to the Koreans. So I took the rocks from myself up there, how else? But as for these sirs, mankind managed to walk on the moon in the last 40 years thanks to modern technology. Now…I don't have anything left to give anyone Mr. Cha."

That answers the question of why she continually reminds one of the moon….wait what?

"What about Annie? My Kentucky rifle?" I asked at hearing that statement as I received the moon rock pendant from Daesun's hands.

"It is with Annan, last time I checked. And speaking of Annie, there they are" she said, her finger pointing behind me.

And there is the kid along with Ratri walking towards us from around a hundred meters away.

Ratri looks like she won a verbal argument, and Annan has a grudging look on her face. They were met halfway here by Daesun…who a moment ago is behind…how?…never even moved…

Oh forget it. It's not worth the effort of having headaches over.

From now on I will just treat these magical things in this way: They just can do these things.

I just wait there and watch as the three walk towards us, discussing something. Then when they got near enough, the kid just reaches behind her and took out a Colt Peacemaker, holding it by the barrel, and gives it to me.

The Peacemaker is the sorriest looking gun I had ever seen in my whole life. The whole thing is rusty. Heck, even the trigger and hammer is rusty. And the handle is made of…this is pearl isn't it?…oh, I think I get it now.

"Why thank you kid. If I didn't know any better, you are trying to insult me with this Peacemaker." I say with a smile and a sarcastic tone as I inspect it.

The pearl embedded handle is lined with incisions which can only be a tally of how many people the previous owner had killed with this gun, and there were…

"Is the previous owner a serial killer of some kind? Because there is a frightening number of lines here that looks like a tally of some kind. And…" I trail off as the rust came off and reveals that it isn't rust in the first place.

"This isn't rust. It's dried blood…Where did you get this, kid?" After saying this sentence I look up.

Annan is looking back at me with a confused and irritated face, while her friends are looking at her suspiciously.

It seems to me that when I inspected the revolver, Annan was looking at her friends denying what I just said.

"It's a gift from Baron La Croix down in New Orleans when I passed through there on my way from Dallas." she says.

"Wait. New Orleans? Do you mean the New Orleans Mardi Gras of 1998? Madame Laveau's party?" Ratri asks Annan in surprise. Daesun at her side also looks at Annan in surprise.

"Yes."

I sputtered, recognizing the name.

"Marie Laveau the voodoo queen of New Orleans? But she's been dead for more than a hundred years already."

"And after her death she became a central figure for voodoo in Louisiana, as well as something like a saint for voodoo practitioners. Practically a deity if you ask me." Annan answers me.

"But why invite you?"

"Well…the three of us decided to go see that year's Mardi Gras along with the humans. And apparently it's very rare for anyone outside of the North American, South American and African supernatural communities to be present so…it was quite an occasion for them."

I shake my head in bemusement, and then remembering the Peacemaker, go back to the issue.

"Well, if this is a gift to you then I should tell you that this is quite a bad one. Don't you know that only a New Orleans pimp would have a pearl handled revolver?"

The kid looks genuinely surprised by what I said.

"Is that true?"

"Patton said so." I said with full faith in what I am saying.

The kid shakes her head.

"I assure you I did not know that before old man, and after this business of ours I will ask the Baron about it. In the meantime, you just have to use it."

"So you are not going to replace this gun?" I ask in slowly mounting indignation.

"Despite the dried blood that eternally coats the gun inside and out, according to Daesun here it still works perfectly well, not to mention the amount of magic I had already invested in this gun."

Eternally coated in blood inside and out?

I look down at the part where I just scrubbed the bloodstain off, only to discover that it is coated in dried blood again.  
>I rub at barrel again, and saw the clean metal surface of the revolver underneath all those dried bloodstains. Then the bloodstain quickly spread over the cleaned surface like...like seeing bean sprouts grow in fast forward.<p>

I didn't dare check the insides of the Peacemaker, sure that a gun this creepy (yes, the gun is starting to creep me out) will have bloodstains inside and out as she advertised.

"And the gun is still functional and accurate? Who on earth is La Croix that he has such a creepy gun?"

"Mr. Ward, I already tested the gun and as Annan said I found it to be both functional and accurate. The only reason that Peacemaker is creepy is because Baron La Croix is one of the Voodoo's gods of death."

"Death? This gun belongs to Death?" I ask, somewhat amazed and scared.

I feel amazed that I would be using Death's Colt SAA. I also feel scared of the consequences of holding the damned thing in the first place.

Daesun answers me.

"La Croix is not Death, he just is in the same business as Death, that of ferrying the souls to the afterlife. And you don't need to feel scared Mr. Ward, Baron La Croix gave it to Annan as a gift. You don't give presents that will harm someone you want to gift something to, right?"

"Right." I answer, now feeling safer from this thing I'm holding. But I still have3 reservations about this gun.

"Well, the gun might be functional but the handle. The damn handle! I refuse to be associated in some way with a pimp Annan." I look at the kid as I said this.

"I doubt anyone outside America will be familiar with that piece of trivia."

"But still-"

"I don't even believe that is true. Maybe Patton just said that for the media."

"McArthur is the one who loves being in the media's spotlight."

The kid sighs and scratches her head.

"What would it take for you to just use the damn gun?" She asks exasperatedly.

"Take out the pearl grips" I answer.

Annan just shakes her head, takes the gun back from me and looks at it.

And looked.

And looked some more.

And then she looks up at me.

"Better?" she asks me.

I look at the handle, and then look up at the kid with exasperation.

"You really do like to mess around with me, don't you kid?" I say to her.

"Your family did it first, I am just getting my own back." she replies back in the same tone of voice.

Well, at least the handles aren't made of pearl now. They are now just made of the bone of... something.

And did I forget to mention that the scratches are still there?

I had to quickly remind myself that that the gun is not cursed or possessed, it just used to belong to Death or else I would have just dropped the gun to the ground.

"What kind of bone is this by the way?"

"Cattle bone. Any more objections?"

"None" I concede.

I have the feeling that if I persisted, we are just going to end up in a childish game of seeing who can irritate the other more.

And I am not becoming childish in my old age, am I?

"Good. Now where was I…this Peacemaker is indestructible, unlimited rounds of bullets, and every shot is full to the brim with magic. Pretty much nothing special about it except for one thing."

"And that is?" I ask, worriedly looking at how the kid is holding that piece.

The only thing she is doing right is that she doesn't have her finger on the trigger; however she is not only waving it around. It looks to me like she isn't even holding the handle tightly in the first place.

It is only a matter of time until that gun slips from her hands if she doesn't stop doing that.

"This Peacemaker doesn't only shoot cal.45 rounds. It can shoot three other kinds of rounds, all you have to do is think about it."  
>"The rounds or the guns that shoot them?" I asked, at the same time looking meaningfully at Daesun and gesturing to the gun.<p>

Thank God she quickly understands what I am worried about. She nudges Annan slightly to gain her attention and upon receiving it, tells her to be more careful with the gun or just give it to her.

Thankfully Annan gives it to her and asks Daesun to hold the gun for her. Then she goes back to me.

"The guns that shoot the rounds. I doubt you know what a 75mm round looks like."

She is right. I don't...

"75 what?" I ask in disbelief.

"75 mm round. The ammunition the M4 Sherman uses for its main gun."

"Are you saying that when I think about a Sherman tank, I will be shooting 75mm anti-tank rounds from that Peacekeeper? Just like a Sherman tank?"

"Yes." she said that proudly.

"Do you know the term 'muzzle blast''?" I asked, wondering where she got this outlandish idea from.

I don't have a problem with an infinite number of AT rounds shooting out from the Peacemaker.

I have a problem with not wanting my bones to snap into two pieces. Or to lose my hearing since the muzzle of the gun is literally an arm's length away from my face. Or to simply die just from being near the muzzle blast.

"Don't worry about that old man. The recoil and muzzle blasts will still stay the same as that of a normal Colt Peacemaker. Now, you can shoot four kinds of ammunition, all filled to the brim with magic, with this Peacemaker. These are those used in the Colt  
>Peacemaker, the Browning cal.50 machine gun, the M4 Sherman's main gun and the big 16 inchers on the USS Iowa."<p>

I blink once, and then just stare at her.

"16 inch guns? As in battleship kind of guns?" I hear Thuc say from my side.

The kid nods with a smile.

I stare at her. And then slowly, I give her a slight and respectable smile.

No, I did NOT give her a big smile with all my pearly whites shown to the whole world.

I definitely did not.

As for the reason…why, I think I like this gun. After all, it is not every day you have a battleship supporting you whenever you like it.

"Well it looks like there is something likeable about you after all, kid. Now all I need is 'Annie', and a bag that can spontaneously produce things."

"Bag? What bag?"

Oh yeah, we were arguing about that a while ago.

I point at everyone around me, and then at the bag I had put down beside my leg. And then I grin with the intent of driving a needle deeper into her skin.

"Don't need supplies? Don't need anything than the clothes on our back and our bodies? Really? Looks like no one thinks like you."  
>Annan looks at the people I pointed out to, looking more and more...dismayed with each backpack and rucksack that she sees. And at seeing Connla also bringing supplies of his own, looks betrayed.<p>

"Even you Connla?"

"I know you can give me food Annan, but I prefer to bring my own change of clothes. And mother insisted on bringing something for emergencies." he replies.

"I told you." I say.

The kid just opens her mouth, and then closes it, shakes her head and then mutters loudly to forget about it.

Then she looks at me with a very mild glare.

She definitely knows I am slightly enjoying this.

'Sucks for her, but she did start the whole thing with Regina and Annie'

"Well, let us forget about that one. Where is 'Annie'?"

"Here." the kid said, reaching behind her back and producing 'Annie'.

I am amazed at what I saw.

"What did you do to 'Annie'? She looks…"

'Annie' the Kentucky rifle looks more...I wouldn't say new, since I still feel the same age from her, that of a hundred plus antique.  
>In fact, the only thing that is physically changed from before is the leather strap that is pasted on one end to the rifle's bit and the other end to the butt. And this leather strap is long enough to act as the sling for the rifle.<p>

'I sincerely hope that it is magic that is sticking that leather strap to the Kentucky rifle, because if it is actually some kind of adhesive...I will make things ugly'

What is different now is…

It's…it's seeing the girl you love after being separated from her for so long with no communication with each other in those intervening years. And upon seeing her after all these years you saw that she is…more mature, more ready for life with you, and everything you and she wants to say had been communicated in the instant that you locked gazes with her.

And I am not joking with that. I did feel that 'Annie'…communicated with me.  
><em><br>Giddy at the thought that she will be used in war again, by the descendant of the man who first used her and then took care of her for all these years._

_Wondering how do I like her new look, and the magic given to her._

_Jealous that a younger, brainless and dirty Connecticut hussy just showed her up, with the size of bullets the bimbo shoots out._

…what?

"What Connecticut hussy?" I ask at the gun.

"What?" the kid asks me.

I look at her.

She looks surprised at me, and then looks at 'Annie'. Then back at me again.

"Oh…you are talking to the gun, right?"

"Yes. Why on earth does 'Annie' sound like a Kentucky belle?" I ask in confusion.

Annan shrugged, said that it must be because the rifle is made in Kentucky, and then hands the Kentucky rifle to me.

As I take hold of 'Annie', the gun started 'talking' to me again.

Happy to work with me and hoping we work as well as she did with my great-great grandfather.

Sorry for the hussy comment, realizing that she should be above such behavior as befits an older gun.

'No problem'

I think to the gun. And I feel her go happy at that.

"So kid, what's new with the Kentucky Rifle?"

"Well, she is now an indestructible Kentucky rifle that reloads instantly by pulling the cock back, shoots magical bullets of two varieties and a special magical ability that you can activate."

"And?" I ask as I sling 'Annie on my right shoulder.

"One is the regular magical bullet. The other is what I call a time bullet, and its effect is messing with the target's time."

"Mess with the what?" I ask.

"If the time bullet hit the target you want, that target will…be locked in a space…let's put it this way. You ever hunted with that other rifle in your house?"

"Very rarely."

"Alright. You shoot a deer with the time bullet. The moment the bullet touches the deer, the living deer instantly becomes a deer that starved to death in that exact place, and to add insult to injury the bullet will still do what all bullets do, make a gunshot wound."

"What if I shot a building? Or a vehicle?"

"Well, time bullets don't work on non-living things. That is why you have the Peacemaker that can shoot out machine gun and artillery ammo."

"And the special ability?"

She smiles. And it was the kind of smile that says 'I am playing a joke on you, at your expense'

"You should ask 'Annie' later."

And this time she grins.

I don't trust that expression at all. Not at all.

Oh well. I'll deal with it later.

"Anything else? I now have a main arm, a side arm, and a combat knife. I also have some supplies with me and I can ask one of the others here to hide my weapons in case I need to conceal them. Do you have anything to add to that?"

"So you don't want me to magically upgrade your bag?"

"You didn't say anything about offering to do so. I would greatly appreciate it."

"Well...the sooner you give it to me, the faster I can put magic on your bag. And before I forget to mention it, are you satisfied with the knife you mentioned? I have a magical knife here, straight from my inventory back home."

As she said the last sentence I have already put my backpack in front of her. Upon her mentioning of the knife, I rummage around the backpack looking for it

Upon finding it, I quickly draw the knife and its sheathe from the bag and say at the same time "I am quite satisfied with my bayonet, especially since this bayonet has already killed plenty of zombies, demons and crazy gods."

I was met with stares from Annan, Daesun and Ratri.

"What?" I ask them as I was tying the sheathe to my belt, the knife still in it.

"You do know you are holding quite a cursed weapon there, don't you?" The kid says to me.

I look back at the M7 bayonet at my waist, then back at her.

Then I look at Daesun and then at Ratri, who both nod, confirming what Annan said.

"You are joking, right?" I chuckle as I asked them "You girls are just joking, no?"

"Nope. It is cursed" Annan says.

"Oh come on kid, what curse? I don't feel anything from this thing here. In fact, my family never said anything about feeling something strange from this bayonet."

"By family are you referring to those related to you by blood?" Annan asks me.

I think about it as I turned to look at the kid.

Regina and Annie have seen this knife before, many times already. So did Fiona and Arnold when they are still kids…come to think of it, everyone who saw it never said anything strange about the bayonet until now.

"Yes." I answer in the end. No need to make this longer by mentioning other people other than my family.

"How about your wife Mr. Ward?" Daesun asks this time.

"Mary never said anything strange about this bayonet. She even used this as the kitchen knife that one time the kitchen knife broke."

Daesun mouths out the words 'kitchen knife' and looks at me incredulously, Ratri looks amazed, while the kid asks incredulously "Your wife used THAT as a kitchen knife for preparing food?"

"Of course. What else would you use a kitchen knife for than to prepare food?"

"And your whole family is still alive after eating food prepared with a cursed weapon?"

Ratri quickly elbows the kid and directs an incredulous look at her, while Daesun looked from Annan and then back at me, and made a gesture saying that she is sorry for what was just said.

I nod to indicate that I accept the apology, and then look at Annan, frowning.

I didn't like the insinuation that my wife is a bad cook, not when nothing could be farther from the truth. Mary was the best cook in Buckhorn, as evidenced by other housewives in town going to her for advice when special occasions come up.

"Well, if we died because of that then my granddaughters would never have existed to piss you off, would they?"

"No they would not." the kid grumbles. Then she quickly asks to take a look at the bayonet.

"Here." I said, taking the bayonet from the sheath and handing it to her.

She holds it up at eye level, holding the handle through a handkerchief that she pulled out from her pocket.

A few moments pass.

And after a few more moments she suddenly flicks the knife on its side, and then she hands it back to me and said that I am lucky.

"Because?" I asked.

"Your cursed knife is partly sentient and thinks of you and your family as its masters. If not, the moment you and your family have eaten that food your wife prepared with this knife, you would have died from your intestines rotting away in minutes."

I wince at the image. And then I shake my head.

"Alright, so I got a cursed bayonet. Is there a problem if I use it as my last ditch weapon?"

"Well, I don't see any problem. But this thing will not last long if you have to parry another magical blade."

"Then will you improve it with more magic?" I ask her.

The kid looks up.

"It will take me around two minutes for the unbreakable spell. Then another three and a half minutes to make its curse nastier."

Then she stopped handling the knife like it was a piece of evidence in a crime scene and holds it properly with her right hand. She immediately winces in pain.

"Easy there little knife. I never picked a fight with you, so stop hurting me." she says to the knife. At the same time I smell something that is inexplicably both burning and rotting coming from...ouch. The smell is coming from her hand.

A moment later, the kid looks at the bayonet in surprise. Then she yelps and throws the knife to the ground, while she holds her right hand with her left.

The two other goddesses went to their friend's side and look at the palm, trying to see the damage.

The palm looks very bad. Some parts looked like it is burned into a crisp, and it smells like human skin burning with napalm. The other parts are leaking with pus and smells of something rotting.

Then she did something miraculous. And is curiously and sacrilegiously similar to something Jesus once did in the Bible.

She spits into her right palm, spreads the saliva all over it and then wipes it off with a tissue she got from her pocket, to reveal a palm that is as fine as my own.

As for the tissue? It is stained black with tar, or something that looks like it. I couldn't really tell since the kid wadded up the tissue, throws it in the air, and the tissue paper immediately burns up in flames. It was quite fast too, since the tissue paper came down to earth as ash.

"You can take it now Ward. I am not touching that knife ever again." she says with anger in her voice, and glaring at the bayonet.

I carefully pick the bayonet up, considering what I saw it do to the kid, and put it in its sheath.

"Mr. Ward, do you still want to make that knife unbreakable? I am willing to do it, if you can ask it not to hurt me." Ratri offers from Annan's side.

"Let that thing break Ratri. It will not do anything good anyways." Annan says to her friend.

Ratri looks at Annan.

"It is a knife that is angry at you since you cursed two of its masters. Of course it will try to hurt you."

'Is the bayonet sentient?' I think to 'Annie' while the two goddesses are starting to argue.

_As sentient as before the Indian gave me magic._

'…that doesn't really help me here 'Annie''

_…the bayonet is a 36 year old man in mind._

'Then how old are you?' I ask, curious about something.

The bayonet supposedly has the mind of what she says is a 36 year old man. It just so happens that it was also 36 years ago since the night at the temple.

Maybe that fight is what turned the bayonet special and sentient? If so, has 'Annie' been sentient these past 194 years?  
>If so, what happened to the M-16 issued to me by the Government? Is it like the bayonet and 'Annie', a sentient thing? Where is it now?<p>

_Ladies never like to talk about their age._

'Then how did you become sentient?'

_…if you insist._

_Just woke up one day when your father is cleaning me while your grandfather is watching, in the month of July, 1912._

_Suddenly remembered everything that happened since the first time I was finished and now has emotions too._

_Supposes that your father giving the name 'Annie' is what woke me up._

'Then why didn't you communicate with father, grandpa or with me when you have been sentient since that time? And why have we never felt anything strange about you?'

_Without magic, the best a sentient weapon can do is express emotion to those that see it, and only when it is used and more importantly, when and at who the weapon chooses to do so._

_Never been used when I finally became sentient, and more likely to be burned or disposed of by your grandfather and father if I reveal I am strange._

'…yeah, there is that' I admitted.

My father and grandfather, and the wives they married were not as bad as those fanatic Christian fundamentalists in the South, especially those Westboro people. But they were very devout people.

They would probably think a family heirloom actually sending them emotions would be something possessed by the devil (while many people here in the Appalachians do believe that family heirlooms do have emotions, that is just the belief, it is not something you actually expect to HAPPEN in real life), and would probably have tried to destroy the thing.

_And also never interacted with you since you must be traumatized by that temple in the Far East. Bayonet told me the story. Don't want flashbacks to that event to happen if I interacted with you._

'That's…thank you'

That is one of the most considerate things anyone has ever done for me in my life.

I was suddenly surprised when Ratri snaps her finger in front of me, asking me if I am finished talking with 'Annie'.

It looks like I lost track of time while 'talking' to 'Annie'.

"Yes. What happened?"

"Well, she can try to tinker with your knife old man." The kid answered. "But if that thing hurts her, I am breaking that thing in half and then in quarters, and then I will-"

I interrupt her.

"Alright, I get your sentiment" Then to humor her, I look at the bayonet and then order it, complete with finger waving motions.

"Hear that bayonet? No hurting anyone unless I tell you to, alright?" And then I turn towards Ratri and give it to her, saying "Do your thing"

Ratri holds the bayonet in her two hands and…nothing.

She just held it in her hands, looking down at it with half-lidded eyes and her lips slightly moving, while the bayonet is just laying there on her hands.

Then I remember that earlier, she was tinkering with the SKS that Thuc is holding now. She quietly did it while I was debating with Annan about logistics, looking up every now and then from the rifle towards us as we are arguing. And that time she wasn't moving her lips.

So magic this subtle when used? Is it only when the magic takes effect that something is noticed?

Will I even notice it when it hits me fast and hard?

…well, that doesn't matter. I have God to help me

"How much longer will it take Ratri?" I ask.

Ratri takes hold of the bayonet in her left hand, by the handle, while her right hand stretches out five fingers. And suddenly it became four fingers stretched out.

I take it to mean four minutes.

"Please don't disturb Ratri while she is using magic, Mr. Ward." Daesun says to me.

"Sorry."

I then look behind me, towards Thuc and Yung Ho, because I really had nothing to do anymore.

We just look at each other for a few moments, not knowing what to say at first.

"So…are you two ready for this?" I finally ask due to a lack of ideas.

"It's been a long time since I had been in the field Herbert. And a long time since I felt this GOOD." Thuc said, at the same time doing some stretching exercises. He also looks a little nervous and excited while doing so. "I think I am ready for this."

Thuan Thien must be at work here. I can honestly say I have never seen anyone my age this…healthy…agile…flexible.

If I didn't find out I am still as healthy as a 30 year old man, which I sincerely believe is a miracle from God, I would be jealous of him right now.

I look at Yung Ho next.

"I am excited to finish this job." he says with a smile on his face.

"How come?" Thuc asks, one of his eyebrows rising in the process.

Yung Ho leaned towards us, putting his arms around our shoulders and making us huddle. Then he softly explains the reason to us.

"I am currently being considered as one of the first members of a very newly formed special group by the Korean supernatural community, and I will be evaluated based on my performance here."

I blink in surprise.

"What special group?" I asked.

' and are those Koreans thinking that this will be a FUBAR? God, I don't want to disappoint Cha but I hope whatever the Koreans are thinking does not happen'

"It isn't something like a special forces group dedicated to fighting threats to Korea, is it?" Thuc asks in a joking voice, complete with a grin on his face.

I chuckle at the thought.

Magical Special Forces. Right.

"Actually it is dedicated to decapitating the leadership of North Korea and then temporarily taking over the country's government until reunification is done with the South."

Thuc's grin disappeared, and his face turned from one of joking cheerfulness to disbelief at someone's stupidity.

I blink and asked the first word to come to mind.

"Seriously?"

Yung Ho was looking at us seriously. A few moments later he suddenly grinned.

"Just joking" he says.

We've been had.

"Don't joke like that you idiot!" Thuc yelled as he slaps Yung Ho's back.

"You have some lousy jokes Cha." I say, at the same time shaking my head.

"But I had you there for a few moments, didn't I?" he says with a smile.

Thuc kicks Yung Ho's feet.

"Hey! What is that for?!" Yung Ho yells in a good natured way.

"From now on I am kicking you every time you spout some lousy joke Kimchi."

"Kimchi?!" Yung Ho asks, in outraged disbelief and humor.

I snicker, as these two guys started bantering with each other.

"Well you do eat Kimchi, right? Then I will call you Kimchi if you irritate me."

"I haven't eaten in the last 41 years Thuc." Yung Ho muttered, and continues "If you are going to be like that, how would you like it if I call you Lau?"

Lau? Isn't that the…

I start laughing.

"Figures that the first Vietnamese dish a Korean would mention is a spicy one." Thuc observes in a deadpan tone. And then he laughs too.

Yung Ho is also starting to laugh.

I finally get myself under control and then looked at the two others.

"How about you two? Get here Javin, Connla." I say to the two who are standing a little bit off away from us.

"Are we invited elder?" Connla asks.

"Of course you two are. We are in this together" Yung Ho says, jovially and matter-of-factly.

"So tell me. Are you two ready for this adventure?" I ask when they came to our huddle.

"I always go along with her whims." Connla said in a vaguely resigned voice.

Always? Did he say always?

"I presume that means you and her go back a long way." I say to him.

Poor guy. Dealing with a teenager for God knows how long.

Connla nods.

"How did you two meet?" Yung Ho ask.

Connla's eyes shift to look at something behind us three, and then back at our faces. Then he smiles.

"It's a tale sure to make you laugh and roll on the ground, but…Annan will be displeased, to say the least, if I told you people about it. So…"

He shrugs his shoulders at the end.

The four of us, Javin included here, look towards Annan (who along with Ratri seemed to have mysteriously moved away from us without me noticing), who is looking at us…no…glaring at Connla with an expression that says 'shut up if you don't want to face a pissed off woman'.

Connla's got good senses. And the kid's got a good intuition.

"And you, Mr. Lad?" Thuc asks him eventually.

Javin look at all of us, one by one.

"I am quite ready for this expedition, although…"

He trails off.

"Although?" all three of us vets managed to ask him at the same time.

Lad looked at the four of us who are listening to him closely, looking like he is mentally debating something.

A few seconds passes, and he makes his decision.

" I will be honest with you sirs, especially you Mr. Ward. I have a different priority than merely being Annan's royal guard." Javin replies.

"And why is that elder Lad?" Connla asks in a curious tone.

"It is a secret-"

"But I insist elder." Connla interrupts in a very soft, persuading tone, with something else mixed in there.

That something has me and the others blinking and alert, ready for a fight.

"Connla, let a man have his secrets. And what's with the aggression?" I softly say.

"Is this secret dangerous to us in the long run."

I pause.

"Can't argue with that logic." Thuc says.

Yung Ho can't help but nod in agreement.

"Do I have to? It won't put any…" Javin asks and then trails off when Connla looked at him straight in the eyes. And I mean really looked at his eyes.

It was quiet for five seconds. Then Javin breaks the silence.

"…you and her? But she-" Javin asks softly, looking over our heads at Annan, who is standing near Ratri, glaring at my bayonet every now and then while she is talking with Daesun about the…I think it's the itinerary.

…wait a minute. 'You and her?'

I quickly look between Connla and Annan, who had stopped talking to Daesun and was looking at us, with suspicion on her face. And at that moment when the kid wasn't looking at her, the Korean goddess quickly put a finger on her lips in the gesture for silence, along with a wink to us (because I am not the only one looking between the two. There is also Thuc, Yung Ho and Javin). At the same time, I also notice Ratri smiling in amusement as she is doing her stuff.

"She doesn't know about it." Connla softly interrupts.

I look at the boy from the past. And one final time at Annan, who is being distracted by Daesun with something.

…I wish him luck, since the kid is oblivious. Also, the kid's a cute girl, but she isn't someone I would want my son to associate with in the romantic sense.

In the meantime…I look back at the two.

Javin is still looking at Connla's eyes. And then he speaks up.

"You are not going to let a man keep his secret, won't you?"

"If our places are switched, would you Lad?" Connla says in a very protective tone.

Javin pauses for a moment, and then finally, he concedes the point.

"Very well. I have been told that I would meet my wife again only when I go on this expedition."

"Only when…" I raise an eyebrow at that.

That sounds somewhat like blackmail.

And this looks like it's the reason he was reluctant to say this to us.

Personal issues. Something you don't advertise to the world unless you had to, or if it's just how you are.

Connla slowly winces and looks away.

"I apologize for the offense elder Lad." he says in an embarrassed tone.

"Apology accepted Connla." Javin replied with a smile that says he has forgiven him, and held out his hand for a handshake.

Connla nods with an embarrassed smile, notices the hand, and then looks up at Javin.

"What am I supposed to do with your hand?" he asks.

Everybody blinks.

"You don't know what a handshake is?" Javin asks.

Connla looked at him in confusion, and then his face brightens up in realization.

"Oh. You mean that curious Greek custom where you hold the other person's hand and shake it when an agreement is reached?"  
>"Yes" I reply, wondering about what he just said.<p>

Even handshakes are from Greece? I wasn't aware of that.

Connla quickly takes hold of Javin's hand with his right arm and shakes it three times.

Well, looks like any trouble between the two has been resolved now.

"Javin, what you just said sounds like something funny is happening." Thuc says to him.

"No!" Javin said in shock. Then he continues. "Nothing foul is happening. I was just given mercy by the gods. I had been looking for my wife's reincarnation for 150 years. Constantly searching and waiting…finally, one of the gods noticed me. Five days ago, by my reckoning, the goddess Parvati suddenly appeared in front of me, and she asked me why I am emulating her."

"That must have been awkward." I say to him.

I don't know what Parvati does, but it sounds like something I imagine Jesus would ask those self-flagellants in the Philippines that were featured this one time in National Geographic: Why are they reenacting his crucifixion.

"It is. I answered her that I am only searching for my wife all these years, and no offense was ever intended. She then left me alone for a while."

"And then?"

"Later, she, along with Lakshmi and some other goddesses appeared and told me they found out where my wife is. But I have to go on this quest to meet her reincarnation. That is when I met Ratri."

"And when you meet her reincarnation? Then what?" Yung Ho asks him.

"…then I wait, watching over her."

"That sounds like a stalker" I say.

Javin turns to me and asked what is the relation of hunting to his search for his wife.

I…how do you explain the concept of stalking to a 19th century person?

"Never mind" I say.

_I believe other words which he might understand are voyeur or Peeping Tom._

'…better not explain it like that. He might react badly'  
><em><br>…very well. But someone must tell him someday._

'I'll do that someday' I promise to myself.

"Elder Javin, you know that watching over a reincarnated person can be very painful, right?"

"I know that. A girl can be reincarnated as a boy, another girl, an animal, or even a plant. And I have to see her live a life without me, I know that…but this is my only chance. After this…if I still fail to see her, I will reincarnate."

At the end, one can see on his face the anguish of a person searching for a missing loved one, and then being told that they only have a few hours left before the missing one is declared dead.

…damn.

"What does she look like?" I ask him, intending to help him keep a lookout for his wife.

Javin shakes his head.

"I am afraid that reincarnation makes recognizing someone by face useless."

"Then how will you know it is her if you saw her reincarnation?" Thuc asks him with a teary face.

"I WILL know it's her if I saw her…I'm sorry but that is how it is explained to me." he says.

That is…so…

_'Cliché ?_

said 'Annie' to my head.

'Yes. But for me, this is a new interpretation of love at first sight'

…the whole thing sounded so cliché but…love is love. And some things change with this kind of afterlife.

"Anything we old folks can do to help you?" I ask.

Javin shakes his head.

"How about we make it easier for you to look around you?" Thuc offers.

"How?" I ask him.

"We could walk slower." Yung Ho says to me.

I look at him with a remark about to spill out of my mouth, when it occurrs to me that what he said IS one way to help Javin look for his wife, since he did say only he can recognize his wife.

That stops me in my metaphorical tracks and made me feel silly.

Unfortunately for me Yung Ho noticed, and looks at me and Thuc (who has pretty much the same silly look as me) with a smug expression that says 'I know what you just thought of and I am amused by it'.

I change my words.

"I get it Yung Ho so wipe that smirk off, ok?"

"Alright" Yung Ho says in surrender, complete with his two arms up in the gesture for it.

I roll my eyes heavenwards, asking God to give this man a proper sense of humor.

"Speaking of your wife, did the gods say where exactly you would find them? Or any clue at all about where she is?" Yung Ho continues.

Javin quickly replies.

"Lakshmi said that the only way I would not see her is if somebody deliberately stopped us from meeting, and that would be highly improbable since there are very few beings that are willing to defy the combined will of a lot of goddesses."

Well…I guess in this case that maxim about angry women being more dangerous than hell is literally true.

"So your meeting her is fated already? Willed by the gods?" Thuc asks.

"Yes" he says in a fervent tone of voice.

"Well, here's adding to those goddesses' will. I hope God helps you see your wife." I say to him, partly in prayer and partly in offering any help I could give.

"And as an ancestral spirit, you have my help should you need it." Thuc says to him.

"If you need to find her using other methods, I offer my services as a paksu mudang." Yung Ho adds.

Connla gives his offer of help last.

"If anyone tries to stop your meeting with her, I offer my spear and shield to stop them elder Javin."

As he said this he is looking at Javin's face, making what seems to be a man to man promise.

Javin looks touched by the outpouring of support, and all he could say to us is one single thank you before looking away from us.  
>Guess he doesn't want us to see him wiping those tears away.<p>

"Well, I guess this makes up for the reason I am doing this job in the first place. When do we start?" I said, wanting to let the man see his wife again and for my granddaughters to be safe as fast as possible.

I look at Ratri, just in time since it appears she had just finished her magic.

"I am finished with the bayonet Mr. Ward." she said as she holds out the bayonet to me.

As I take it, I look for anything that has changed about the bayonet.

For one, there is that black, very barely seen (because one moment it is there, the other moment it is not) ominous line on the point and edge of the bayonet.

The moments when I see it, it looks no different than if someone ran a black marking pen over the point and edge. Yet…that black is ominous, not in the same way that you are scared of the dark not knowing what is out there, but in the same way that I just felt when Daesun pulled that Davy Crocket from Yung Ho's bag. Or the way that you feel when you are handling a perfectly new grenade. You know that thing could still blow up on you, yet it is assured by the makers that it will not.

Other than that, is the blade and handle. They…they feel as permanent as the Cumberland mountains back home. As if long after human civilization is gone, it will still be there in my home, undamaged by anything nature can throw at a manmade object, for all of eternity.

"Is the bayonet to your liking, Mr. Ward?"

"Tell me this first Ratri. Is what I feel from seeing something magical an accurate gauge of the power of a magical object or being?"

"For the humans, no. You can't gauge power, but you could feel what is the magical object supposed to do, or what the magical being is related to."

I nod thinking about it.

"Well then, if that is how it works then I think I am satisfied."

"So is there anything else?" The kid asks everyone there.

Ratri and Daesun shake their heads. Lieu Hanh seems to be talking with someone through a cell phone while looking at us.  
>The others, including me, are looking at Annan, waiting.<p>

"Well if there is nothing else, we are going now. See you girls later." she said to Ratri and Daesun, waving with her left hand as her  
>right index finger…dips into the air just like you dip your finger into an ink bottle…what is she poking her finger into?<p>

She drags the finger downwards, and a…gap…void with lots of lights just like you see in the night sky opened up just like a zipper.

Once she had it down to the ground, she stepped into the void and looks back at us.

"What are you guys waiting for?"


	9. USA to Ireland to Japan in 1 day

Chapter 9

The kid's pretty eager to get on with the traveling. I understand that since I am also eager to get this job over with. Fortunately, I remember something before it was too late to turn back.

"Where's my backpack?" I ask her.

We both look at where I last put the backpack.

It's obvious that it wasn't touched since I last put it in front of her.

I look back at her, wondering how she forgot something that is in front of her.

Annan face palms with her right hand.

"Sorry old man. Senior moment." she says, embarrassed.

Daesun, Ratri and Connla laugh, while I mentally twitch at this explanation.

It's not because it was a silly explanation, but because I resent the term 'senior moment'. Not all of us old folks are forgetful or schizophrenic, damn it. I am still as mentally healthy as my granddaughters.

I am even ready to prove it. Bring on the quizzes and the questions. I dare you!

"Do we have to wait for a few more minutes?" Javin asks in a puzzled tone.

I guess that might be the 'senior moment' term. Obviously it did not exist in the 19th century.

"No need. I'm going to magic it up on the way there." the kid replies as she made a 'come hither' gesture with her left hand's index finger.

My backpack instantly appears, strapped on her shoulders.

"Nothing else is left Mr. Ward?" she asked me as she holds the right strap of the backpack while wearing it.

"Not a thing" I told her as I shoulder 'Annie.'

"Good. Then let's…would you guys stop it already?" she complains.

Her three friends are still laughing, though the laughter is slowly dying off.

"What's so funny about that comment?" I murmur to myself, feeling a little bit offended on behalf of seniors everywhere.  
>Ratri shakes her head.<p>

"It's an inside joke among us four." Daesun replies.

"Yes, inside joke." Connla agreed, smiling in an amused manner.

Annan rolled her eyes and then starts walking back to the void. Connla immediately followed behind her.

The rest of us fall in file formation behind them, me behind Connla, Yung Ho behind me, Thuc and Javin bringing up the rear.

When the kid has reached the void, she stopped and turns around.

"Before we go in that place, there are a few things you guys have to know. First, unless you are magical or a dead soul, don't touch the edge that separates the space between worlds and our world. This edge is at least as sharp as a magical weapon."  
>To demonstrate, she plucks a long blade of grass and did the same thing that Daesun did with 'Morning Calm'. The only difference is the other half of the leaf…disappeared into that starry void.<p>

Gone with no trace whatsoever.

"Questions?"

"Do you mind making that doorway larger, your holiness? As it is, that doorway is uncomfortably narrow." Javin asks.  
>The…doorway, as Javin called it, is a vertical football shaped hole3 meters high and 1 and a half meter at its widest. But considering that the edges of the doorway are…lethal…<p>

"Make the hole wider, around 2 more meters, kid." I say to her.

"Alright." she says.

She took hold of the edges and…pulls back our world..

The resulting sight is very surreal.

It is as if…our world is a very realistic drawing on a curtain sheet. I could even see the creases of reality when she pulled it apart.  
>In the end, the hole ends up looking like the drawn back curtains in my bedroom back home, a roughly pentagon shaped opening 3 meters high and 4 meters at the widest.<p>

Looking back at us, Annan said something more.

"Second thing you have to know. Whatever you are seeing the space between the worlds as, stop thinking of it like that, or you will get separated from each other and get lost forever without divine intervention."

"What? What are you talking about? All I'm seeing is a starry void." I say.

"A starry void? I'm seeing a forest trail Herbert." Thuc says to me in confusion.

I look back in the same way.

"Yung Ho?" I asked, turning my head towards him.

"A long hallway inside of a palace." he answers.

"I am seeing a doorway to a mosque." Javin says to us.

"The longest tent I have ever seen." Connla says last.

We look at each other in confusion.

"Kid?" I turn towards Annan.

"The space between worlds shows itself as you imagine it to be. For me, I am seeing a footpath in a meadow just like this one in Ireland."

"We're in Ireland?" I ask.

I thought we were in some kind of fairy world.

"Cill Eo, Ireland, to be exact. If we goddesses didn't put up a spell that renders us invisible and silent to mortal eyes, we would be up to our ears with the Gardai's ERU for illegal ownership of guns. The Cill Eo Post Office is just a kilometer away in that direction." she points behind her.

I shake my head over this revelation.

"To solve this problem, we are going to walk in file with me in the lead, tied together with this around our waists."  
>She produces a rope made of sinew out of her cloak. She ties the head around her waist, and then gave us the rest of the seemingly endless coil of rope.<p>

In the end, except for Annan, we have the rope tied around our waists five to seven times, with a two meter length of rope between each member of the file.

"Now, let's go people." she cheerfully said and walks into the starry void…that instantly turns into a footpath in the middle of the meadow the moment she stepped past the line.

Next Connla walks into that meadow. He hesitates after taking two steps into the 'space between worlds', looking surprised at something. He then shakes his head and looks at Annan, who shrugged and says to him that what he was feeling is normal.  
>Then it is my turn to walk into there.<p>

The experience of walking into what the kid called 'the space between worlds' is hard to describe, since there was a conflict between what my senses are telling me. My skin was caterwauling that I am stepping on air, even if I can plainly see that I am stepping on very fresh grass and rich, loamy soil.

My skin is also saying that there is no heat and no wind in this place even if I am seeing light from a clear sky at noon and breathing air, although mysteriously I don't feel cold nor am I suffocating.

Once I had finished entering 'the space between worlds', I turn around and tell the others what to expect. Thanks to that, they didn't get shocked by the sudden sensations their skin is telling them.

After all of us had entered, Annan goes back to the opening and takes hold of the edges like one would hold the curtains. Then she yells out to her friends that she will see them later, and drags the drapes close.

As the edges touched each other, they join together not like the zipper or the curtains that I likened them to earlier, but like two puddles of water on the smooth floor tiles. The fabric of reality went back to normal.

And then we were left there standing in that unreal meadow.

-

We had already been walking for around ten minutes or so through the 'space between the worlds'. While walking, we are also chatting with each other, to help deal with the…uneasiness of walking in this place.

And as for what we were chatting about?

A lot of topics.

"So they laughed because she really IS the oldest person in that meadow?" I ask Connla with a lot of amusement. Behind me, Yung Ho is snickering. 'Annie' is giggling in my mind. I didn't hear a thing from Thuc (behind Yung Ho) or Javin (last in file), but I just know that they are also very amused by Connla's story.

"Yeah. She is one of the 'Old ones', the ones that are there since almost the start of humanity."

Annan, I notice, is steadily walking towards our destination without a backwards glance at Connla. But at the same time she is listening to the story. It's obvious if you see how her head is slightly tilted to the left.

"Exactly how old is the kid?" I ask.

Connla looks at me, and then thinks about it.

To my surprise, Annan answers me.

"I became aware 8 centuries before the first damned farmers had settled on Ireland." she says.

Damned what?

What on earth does she have against farmers? Farmers are honest, decent folk who wouldn't hurt you unless you force them to.  
>"What is your earliest memory of that time Annan?" Connla asks in a voice filled with curiosity.<p>

She looks back at him, and then at me. Then she looks forward again.

"I distinctly remember the music and the singing. It was...night, on a place now called Mount Sandel. The only light comes from the fires and the stars and the moon. I also remember the smell of pork, fish and hazel nuts being cooked over the fire."

"Pork?" I ask.

"Yes. Pork. What did you think the first people in Ireland ate?" she asks in a slightly curious tone.  
>"Mammoths and giant bisons."<p>

She scoffs.

"This is the time of the hunter gatherers in Ireland. Pretty much one of the last places to be settled by man in Europe after the Big Ice went north. The mammoths and other giant mammals are long dead by this point in time."

"Which is when?"

The kid stops walking and looks back at me with an amazed, disbelieving look.

Thankfully everyone else is alert due to the uneasiness of the place, so we didn't end up bumping into each other.

"Don't you know it's a bad idea to ask a woman her age?"

"I know that, but you sure did not act like one when we first met."

I pause. And then I continue.

"Act like a woman and I will treat you as one, kid."

She glares at me.

I shrug it off.

She will thank me one of these days for that insight. It's unseemly for someone who claims to be thousands of years old to act too much like a teenager and no change at all.

Annan stopped glaring and goes back to walking.

We follow her.

"What was that occasion you remembered about Annan?" Connla asks, trying to make the conversation continue.  
>"It was a celebration of that year's summer solstice. And it was also when I was first named."<p>

"First named? So that's your birthday?"

She nods.

"When exactly is your birthday?" I ask.

"I don't have the exact date since I am not an astronomer, but I know it is summer. They were celebrating the summer solstice at the time."

"So what do you do to celebrate your birthday?"

"Well…I just hang around with Connla here, visit his and the Veneti's little piece of the afterlife. But since I met Ratri and Daesun, it's an annual vacation to somewhere along with them."

"So that would be when you got to New Orleans in '98?"

"Yes. Oh, we're here."

I blinked in surprise at the sudden change of topic. I looked beyond the kid, to see a…

A flag of modern Ireland flapping in the nonexistent wind.

"What's with the flag your holiness?" Yung Ho asks from behind me.

"It's a marker that you have already reached your destination and you just need to open a doorway from the 'space between worlds' into the world on the other side."

"Is there an actual distance here in the 'space between worlds'?" Thuc asks.

"If that is the case, then we could have been forced to walk for an eternity or two." Annan replies.

I shiver in horror at what she said, and felt the same emotion from 'Annie'.

"Kid" I say in a tone that is demanding some explanations.

"Don't worry. What's strange about travelling the 'space between worlds' is that distance is of no meaning here. Only time has of any use here, and even then…"

"Even then?"

"You could spend ten seconds walking and then reach your destination at best. At worst, you spend 30 minutes walking until you reach your destination, and we…did it in 17 minutes. Not bad for travel time."

"So travel time is random, but every traveler is safe here?" I ask.

"Yes."

"May I ask a question your highness?" Thuc asks from behind me.

"What is it Thuc?" the kid asked while she is starting to make another doorway through the 'space between worlds' with her right index finger.

"Why are you making it hard for yourself and keep referring to the 'space between worlds' with its full name? You could abbreviate it or make some nickname."

Annan turns around and looks at Thuc with a blank expression.

I did the same thing a moment later.

"I thought it's my job to make crappy jokes Thuc." Yung Ho comments. Then he continued "But you are right."

Yung Ho turns towards the kid.

"Why are you people making things difficult when you could just abbreviate or make another nickname for this place, your holiness?"

I turn back to the kid, who is still looking at us. And then she speaks.

"I thought that the common infantry man wants the military abbreviations gone and replaced with plain words or something."  
>Thuc laughs. I groan, knowing what she is talking about.<p>

"You are talking about the Americans Annan. That's not the case with the rest of the world."

"Oh…" Annan says in realization.

"It's not?" I ask in wonder.

"Not with the VPA." Thuc grinned.  
>"Not with the Korean Marines…well…when I was still alive." Yung Ho says in a 'thinking about it carefully' tone.<p>

I envied them at that moment. I really do.

"The reason why we persist with the term 'Space between worlds' is because it sounds perfectly magical and mysterious to the supernatural community." the kid explained.

I think I went a little bit slack jawed.

"You folks keep saying that whole mouthful, just because it sounds magical and mysterious?" I slowly ask, not believing it.

"Yes. Yes we do." she said in a matter of fact tone, and opens the doorway.

Beyond the doorway is…

-

"Where are we kid?" I ask as we stood on the rooftop of a tall building...several tall buildings that are built to surround what seems to be an open space.

I look around me.

I am looking at a city filled with lights from a multitude of neon signs and lighted tarpaulins where Chinese looking symbols are written and pictures and drawings are painted on, so much light that you can somewhat see the clouds floating in the night sky. Surrounding us are other tall buildings, and the streets are so full of people that it's like seeing an ant hive.

The only other place that could compare to this city is New York City.

I suddenly remember that there are two people here who are not from the 20th century.

"Connla? Jav…" I trail off at the sight of these two.

They are open mouthed, slack jawed with no restraint whatsoever, and their faces are…awestruck and scared at what they are seeing.

Only comparison I could make is it's like your first time on an airplane and seeing everything from above, like a bird. You are both afraid and exhilarated.

"Never seen anything like this?" Yung Ho asks them.

"Jhansi was never anything like this. Even Delhi is not like this." Javin says in awe and fear.

"I have only a vague idea of what cities look like now, based from a game. But this…this beats paintings made of lightning." Connla says after Javin.

Paintings made of lightning?

What is…oh. Electricity.

So…pictures from the computer? He did say that he does know how to use a computer.

I then notice something amiss.

Yung Ho…does not look happy. He has the face of someone who had seen something distasteful, and is just dealing with it as a professional.

"You alright, buddy?" I ask Yung Ho.

He looks at me, and at Thuc beside me, and shakes his head.

"You recognize this place Yung Ho?" Annan asks.

Yung Ho nodded and said in a voice full of scorn "Japan."

Japan? We went through that creepy place just to go to Japan?

"Nhat Ban? I mean, Japan? We went through that creepy place, just to get to Japan, you holiness?" Thuc asks in amazement.

…Annie and Regina are right. Friends do think alike…not that Thuc is my best friend…whatever the final F is for in BFF.

Annan walks in front of the group, spreads her arms, and then says "Yung Ho is right. I welcome all of you to Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan."

And she smiles like an excited teenage girl.

-

"Tell me Annan, how do we look like to these people?" I asked while walking.

Currently, Javin is in front of the group, looking for his wife in the faces of everyone we pass by even though he is bewildered by the sights. Thuc is behind him to prevent Javin getting separated from us.

Yung Ho is beside Connla, doing pretty much the same thing while at the same time trying to answer Connla's questions about this object (how do you drive a car?) and that subject (why does a store need that much space?). If you ignore the racial differences, it seems to me like a father talking with his son on the kid's first trip to a city.

It's something that made me smile, remembering my own first time in a city, and I kept pestering dad about this and that object.  
>"What were you asking just now old man?" the kid asks, distracted by texting to, presumably, the person who we are about to contact.<p>

"I said what do we look like to these Japanese now with your magic? We didn't exactly change clothes here, I noticed. I and Yung Ho are still in BDU's, Thuc is still wearing the VC outfit, and Javin, you and Connla are still dressed in your costumes."

"To most mortal eyes, you are dressed just like those American tourists over there." she points out to a group of kids we are about to pass by.

The kids look like they are at the same apparent age as Annan, dressed in American branded blue jeans (JAG's and Lee's at a glance), shirts that would not look out of place from those worn by the high school kids in Hazard and Buckhorn, hidden under American branded jackets (If those Dickies labels are for real. Those Chinese counterfeiters are getting better) and wearing the standard white sneakers.

Something suddenly occurred to me.

"Wait. Me. JUST like them?" I say in horror, looking back at those kids, and then at the surrounding Japanese in suspicion.

…Oh God.

I'm a senior citizen for crying out loud. Old people don't try to look like teenagers, especially when they could not pull it off.

The kid looks at me with a smile.

"Do you want the lie or the truth?"

I just look at her.

"It's only you old man who is dressed like the typically disliked American stereotype. The rest of us are dressed in sensible AND respectful tourist outfits suited for our age and nationality."

I stare at her in horror. Then she suddenly said another statement.

"We are all dressed in sensible and respectful tourist clothing. Why would I humiliate you? I have no reason to humiliate you now, nor would I have a reason to since you are acting as a bodyguard."

…is she fooling around with me?

"Now Mr. Ward, which is the lie and which is the truth? You guess it."

…she is.

"Annan stop trolling elder Ward and apologize to him." Connla asks from in front of us.

The two of us stopped walking and looked forward, to see Connla standing and looking back at us, with a face that says he disapproves of what the kid is doing. Behind him, the others are also standing and looking back at us.

"Oh come one Connla. I'm not hurting him."

"No" Connla said.

The two look at each other.

"We should get moving people. We are in the middle of the sidewalk." I said.

"Con-"

"No."

The Japanese pedestrians are walking around our group, some of them sending us disapproving expressions for bothering them.

"We're bothering a lot of people right now kids." I said, more insistently now that I am feeling and seeing some stares.

The kid bit her lower lip.

"You have to Annan." Connla softly reprimands her.

The kid sighed and then says "Oh alright." She then turned to me and mutters the quickest yet most polite apology I had ever heard in my life.

"Well, if you stop 'trolling', whatever that word means, with me or my granddaughters then I would do so. Now can we-"

Annan didn't let me finish.

She just grabbed my left arm and drags me forward. That promps everyone in our party to move again.

I look at Connla, who is keeping pace on my right side. Upon seeing me look at him, he made an apologetic shrug and an eye gesture towards his girl.

I nod slightly and then sigh.

I thank God that my kids were never anywhere this…disrespectful to me when they were in their rebellious phase.

-

"Where ARE we going Annan?"Connla asks Annan with a lot of discomfort evident in the tone.

We had already walked a few hundred meters from the building we had come from. And if I remember our route correctly, we walked straight, and then when we reached a crosswalk comparable to Times Square, we went right, and then walked straight, following the sidewalk until we had reached a street that goes left.

And that street leads straight to a gate towards a…palace gate of some sort.

"We are going to Kanda Shrine over there, one of the oldest shrines in Japan."

"So we are going to meet your debtor in that shrine?" I ask.

"Yes."

After that we walked through the gate and enter the grounds of the shrine to stand in the center.

It was a big square plaza, with 4 red colored buildings: on in front, one to my right, one to the left and one to the rear and left. Between the left building and the rear left building is a tall blue building…which I am not sure if it is just an office building built next to the shrine or it is owned by a shrine. There are also 7 big trees in the shrine, along with 2 statues of…I'm not sure if those are supposed to be lions or dogs…if those are dogs then I want one.

These dogs look like they could tear a grizzly bear into shreds.

Oh look…there is another statue to my rear right, with 2 stone posts to its front. The statue…is of a mustachioed guy with a…hat, I think.

Around us are dozens of Japanese wearing…since WHEN do you wear business suits to your place of worship?

Tuxedos, in case of a wedding? Yes. To Church? No!

And…is that a priest waving his wand like object over a few computers? With all those corporate looking types bowing behind those computers…

Oh. Now I understand.

They are asking for blessings.

This must be the real secret behind Japan Inc. Nothing is more powerful than belief in God (or gods and spirits) after all.

"This is a very impressive temple, although not as impressive as Varanasi itself." Javin comments.

"What's in Varanasi?" Yung Ho ask.

"Varanasi is a city of temples." Javin said.

"He's right. Practically every street crossing has a temple. In fact, Varanasi has the highest density of gods and heavenly beings anywhere in the world because of those temples."

"You have been there, your holiness?" Javin asks her.

"Ratri invited me, Daesun and Connla there. Practically introduced us to everyone she knows."

"So this is not the first time you have been to a modern city Connla?" I ask him.

"No it is not. But I did not see anything outside the temples. We traveled through magical…gateways?" Connla turns towards Annan with a questioning look.

"Portals." she says.

"Like that weird elevator we used a while ago kid?" I asked, thinking back to that magical elevator we used to get from Buckhorn lake to Cill Eo.

"Yes. Now…where is that guy?" she mutters to herself.

"The creditor, your holiness?" Javin asks.

"Yeah" she started looking around the Kanda Shrine grounds.

"What does he look like Annan?" Connla asked her, starting to look around as well.

"Big ears, slightly limp and a black colored hat that kinda looks like a clown hat." she says.

All of us start to look around.

Hmm…exclude anyone of the female gender…

…not that guy with hair dyed blonde…

…not that corporate looking guy either…

…eyeglass wearing college kid…

…a Latino tourist couple…

Aside from the people from the computer blessing ceremony, and the other worshippers and tourists I just noted, there is nobody else in the temple but us.

"Hmph. Nowhere here. Ok, let's call him." the kid says.

"Why didn't you do so earlier?" I ask.

"It's his business hours. He has to attend to his worshippers first before guests, you know? Speaking of business…where are the other two guys here? If there is a blessing or occasion, one of them has to be here and yet…"

Again she looks around, this time with worry in her features.

"The gods that are supposed to be here are not here?" Thuc asks.

"Yes. Better call him now. Gather around me people."

Annan looked around as we stepped closer to her, looking as if she is trying to see if anyone is looking at us.

Apparently satisfied, she raised her right hand and snaps her fingers…and nothing hap-

I notice the priest jerk and look at us in surprise.

The corporate personnel looked at us…and then looked around, as if they…they couldn't see us...it's the same trick Ratri used back in Versailles.

But this time, someone can see us while everyone else cannot.

All of us are holding our breaths, waiting for the priest's next action. Suddenly Annan stepped forward and waves to the priest. Upon seeing her, the priest stopped looking suspicious of us, smiled at us and nods like he met someone he knew…wait a minute.  
>"Does that priest-"<p>

"Shinshoku. Shinto priests are called Shinshoku." the kid interrupts me.

"Alright. Does that Shinshoku know you? And how come he can see us?"

"Well yes. He has seen me before when I asked Leech man here for a favor-"

"Leech man? If you are talking about who I think you are talking about, your holiness, then that's cruel to him" Yung Ho interrupts the kid. And then he muttered "Even though he is a Japanese."

"Naw. That's what he told me to call him as a nick name. We're actually close enough acquaintances to joke around with each other. Ebisu here calls me Miss D-cup."

"D-cup? What are you talking about, you have A-cup breasts." I respond without thinking.

…I shouldn't have said that. Everyone is looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"You would know how to tell bra sizes if you have a daughter who just keeps growing every year."

"How big is your daughter?" the kid asks, some…jealousy evident in her voice.

"Like my wife, she's ended up a C-cup." I reply in embarrassment. And then to ward of the embarrassment, I ask her "What about you? What is that D-cup thing about?"

The kid looked at Connla and frowns.

"An embarrassing joke that has been going around for years already no thanks to this guy."

Joke?

Connla looks like he realized something.

"Are you referring to Da Chich Anann?"

Annan glowers at him.

"I already apologized for that a long time ago Annan-"

"And I am still being made fun of by some for that."

"And you let this Leech man call you in reference to that?" Connla asked with some anger, incredulity and some…jealousy, which Annan did not notice.

"…that's why he told me to call him Leech man. He's a fun loving, lucky, muscular, child friendly guy and one of the greatest fishermen of all time." she says in a matter of fact tone.

"And I suppose you like to marry him one of these days huh?" Connla says in anger.

And then he realizes what he said and pales up.

The kid blinked and just looks at him.

And the rest of us pray for him from the bottom of our hearts.


	10. An unintended confession by a Celt kid

Chapter 10

Poor kid.

Connla had just expressed his jealousy to someone who never had an inkling of his feelings about her. As a fellow man and in line with his own feelings on this matter, as he had said before, I have to help him cover this up.

...God help me, think of something Herbert, QUICK!

Thuc suddenly saves the day for Connla.

"What I think Connla here means," Thuc says in the same way one tries to reason with a superior officer, which instantly drew Annan's attention towards him "is that he is very concerned, as a friend, about this Ebisu of yours, seeing as he doesn't know anything about this man, and this person is on such...shockingly close terms with you."

"What Thuc said." I agree with a serious expression, for lack of anything better to add.

We are right now drawing Annan's attention from Connla towards us.

"What is Ebisu to you, your holiness?" Yung Ho and Javin both ask Annan at the same time, in the kind of tone that a person who is successfully hiding the fact that he is panicking makes.

Then the two immediately notice what they had just done and slightly wince.

'Damn it you two idiots'

I thought to myself as I slightly shake my head.

Just agree with whoever had managed to think of something if you can't do so. And to ask something so obviously meant for an acquaintance in love? And at the same freaking time?

…does it take being a grandparent to understand these kinds of things? Honestly?

The kid looked at each and every one of us, starting from Yung Ho and Javin, and ending with a stare at Connla, who is still pale, silent, and is just looking at the scene that went FUBAR the same way one wonders what they did to deserve something unfortunate in their view.

And then she shifts her eyes away from him like a shy girl, and ends up staring at the floor like a scientist, or a philosopher deep in thought over a problem.

…wait a minute. Like a shy girl?

I look at Connla, who is still out of it, and then I look at Thuc, who noticed the same thing I did.

We look at each other for a moment, and then unexpectedly, he points his left index finger at Annan and the right at Connla…and then brings them next to each other out of sight of the two.

And then another time.

…Is he asking me if we should act as Cupid for Connla and Annan?

While the idea of us grandfathers being the matchmakers this time around is tickling me pink with laughter and giddiness at the same time deep in my mind…I had mentioned before that Annan isn't exactly what I would want to see in a daughter or granddaughter in law.

'Later' I mouth off to Thuc, and then I turn towards Annan to tell her to call Ebisu now, only to be interrupted by the kid trying to say something first.

"I…well…" After two words, she stopped speaking.

"…go on." Connla urges her, his presence of mind returned instantly by the kid's voice.

"…Ebisu is indeed a recent close friend and a fellow otaku, make no mistake about that Connla. But he isn't…he isn't as close to me as the girls and…and you."

"…You never gave me a nickname. Yet he has one." Connla points…grumbles out.

The kid shook her head, chuckling.

"He started it, I'm telling you. I just went along with him, since he is just so friendly. Besides, him,a s my husband? I…I don't see it. I just don't see the possibility."

This, I feel, gives Connla much renewed hope…I think, seeing as this is just my feeling.

"And another reason why him as a husband is impossible is because he is already married."

I blink.

And Connla, without noticing it himself, lets out a sigh of relief and slightly smiles.

"Ebisu is married? Since when?" Idiot number 1…I mean Yung Ho, asks.

Annan grins.

"He married the goddess who saved him."

"…Is it an Ainu?" Yung Ho asks with…glee?

Why is he grinning widely?

The kid looks at him strangely.

"Well technically, she is Emishi, not Ainu, seeing as Ebisu floated not all the way to Hokkaido but somewhere in Chiba prefecture thanks to the Kuroshio current, but yes. Why are you so happy to hear that?"

Yung Ho…softly cackles.

…Imagine Stallone or Norris cackling.

That's how awkward the sight is.

And as Yung Ho is cackling he is saying something.

"Ha-ha ha. Married an Ainu…the first bitch and first asshole's first son married someone not Japanese…bwahahaha! I would have paid a lot to see the faces of these Japs when they learn that!"

And then Yung Ho continues laughing.

…I sigh.

…I'll admit that a long time ago, deep, deep down inside my mind, I used to have some…discomfort with blacks, something I learned through the example of my parents and elders. But that had been beaten to death by the fact that some of my fellow squad members are blacks, and they had saved my life on more than one occasion during the Vietnam War.

The Vietnamese also contributed to the removal that little racist part of me. You couldn't think of them as little, irritating, less impressive people than you. You respect them as the dangerous and capable and just as equal as you are opponents that they are.  
>Yung Ho's cackling and comments here instantly brings to my mind…segregation, Jim Crow, Martin Luther and the Civil Rights movement, and everything related to that topic in the 60's that I hear over the radio and see in the newspapers.<br>It's…It's something I really don't want to remember, you know?

Annan didn't look impressed.

"Do you have a problem with Waka-ush or the Ainu? And while Ebisu is estranged from his parents, they are still his parents, you know?"

Yung Ho quickly gets his laughter under control.

"No your holiness," he said while waving his hand in negation. "I don't have a problem with Waka-ush. In fact, I am happy to hear about this. And as for Izanagi and Izanami, fuck them."

Annan looks at him for a few more moments, nodded while looking uncertain about the truth, and looks away from him towards Connla, who was also looking at Yung Ho with raised eyebrows until the kid looked toward him.

They both shrug at each other, and then Annan starts scrutinizing Connla, deep in thought over something. And Connla starts fidgeting under her attention.

…well at least something good came from this, although we also lost something else: that friendly looking priest back there is looking hatefully at Yung Ho…something that reminded me of the 60's, again.

After a few moments, Annan looked away from Connla, and then shakes her head and mutters something, the only word of which I heard clearly is 'later'.

"Well, I'm going to call Ebisu now." she declares.

First, she closed her eyes, raised her hands to around her chest, and claps her hands twice. In that moment, I felt the air change. It was…sort of like the feeling one gets when there is a storm about to come about. Then next, she singsonged the next words.

"Ebisu, Ebisu, where are you? Annan has come calling for you, and wants to pay her debt. Ebisu, Ebisu, come on out and greet me. If you do not come out, I will come back another day."

As she said the final words, she clapped her hands twice, again, and then opens her eyes and look around the temple grounds.

…wait a minute.

"You will come and pay your debt another day? I thought today is the due date? That's why we rushed here, no?" I ask her.

Annan looked at me and says "Well it's his fault for not being here at the agreed date. Honestly, the only important thing is that your payment must be as important to the creditor as the favor you had asked for is to you."

I raise my eyebrows.

"That system of payment sounds complicated." Thuc suddenly says, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Actually, it's not." Yung Ho answers.

"I agree." Connla adds.

I notice that Javin had not been saying anything for a while now since Connla's slip up, and upon looking I saw him looking around us with a watchful eye.

…oh yeah, I couldn't expect him to mentally be with us all the time since he is searching for his wife.

Back to the others, Yung Ho is saying that in the supernatural world the value of certain actions and things are easily known through following your instincts and experience.

"Really? How come this is the first time I ever heard of measuring the value of favors since I died?" Thuc asks him.

"You've been dead how long Thuc?"

"Three years" Thuc said, and then he suddenly looks puzzled. A moment later he looked at Yung Ho and says "You aren't telling me this has something to do with-"

"Seniority in ancestor worship? Not really Thuc, I just asked to see how much you know about the afterlife. You see, it has more to do with the human spirits in general."

"…explain." Thuc demanded.

"Since when do ancestors trade favors? All they do is just look out for their descendants from wherever they are, as long as the descendants worship and respect them properly. The only time they would have to trade favors, to my knowledge that is, is when they have to deal with gods and non-human spirits or when they are turned INTO gods."

"…I think you are forgetting former priests and shamans." Thuc comments.

Connla, Annan and Yung Ho laugh.

Their laughter surprises the rest of the group and the priest, who keeps giving side glances at us while finishing up the ceremony, ignoring the curious glances of the people over whose blessing ceremony he is presiding over.

"Really? Come on, really Mr. Thuc?" Annan manages to say through her laughter.

"What is funny about what Mr. Thuc said, your holiness?" Javin asks.

"If a dead shaman or priest get's called on to help the gods or their successors with something, sure they will do it. But they will not initiate favors by themselves. After all, they are retired and loving it, like me." Yung Ho answers with a grin.

…retired and loving it.

Retired and loving it?! What the…

…God, heaven must be such a funny place…on the other hand, maybe it really is a funny place.

"What's a retirement?" Javin suddenly asks while I was thinking about the implications of heaven being a funny place.

Everyone, including me and surprisingly Connla, looks at Javin, who shrugged and repeats his question.

"It's when you are too old to work. You just stay at home or a retirement home and laze the days away doing whatever you want." I answer, remembering that this guy, out of everyone present, is the only one with completely no idea of the way things work nowadays, seeing as Connla does have internet access.

Javin looked at everyone present. And then he says "Oh. Old age" And then he nods his head in the way one does after learning something new, complete with the his right hand stroking his beard in that…way…I know I've seen that on TV sometime, I just don't remember which show or movie.

He then shakes his head and asks the kid if Ebisu had responded to her call.

"Well…just give it more time" she says.

"How long is your 'more time' going to take kid?" I ask while sitting Indian style on the temple grounds.

It is cold, it is ALREADY night, no worshippers are left in the temple which had already closed for the night and…oh dear Lord.  
>It's starting to drizzle.<p>

I quickly rummage around in my backpack for the poncho, and then suddenly something comes to me.

"Kid, you're a goddess. Make that rain go away!" I…'request' impatiently.

"Sorry old man. No can do. It's considered very impolite to perform major magic in the territory of another being, especially one as major as stopping the rain." Annan says in an irritated and worried voice.

"The word you used is major. How about making the light rain stay a light rain Annan? That counts as minor, right?" Connla asks, while he pulls out a…a 10 cm tall dunce cap made out of metal, with metal flaps for his ears and neck, and whose opening is wide enough that the hat's edges are at the same level as his eyebrows. And on the top is a bristle of…dark colored hair.  
>…is that supposed to be a helmet? Really?<p>

He puts the dunce cap helmet…I can't believe I just said that.

Let me redo the previous words.

He puts on the dunce cap SHAPED helmet and tugs his cloak closer to his body, at the same time putting his backpack between his legs.

Annan looks at him, and then at the dark night sky lit up by the lights of the city like she is searching for something or someone up there, and then nodded a few moments later.

Afew moments later she looks at us and said one word. "Done."

"Done?" I ask.

And then I feel the sensation of...the kind of sensation wherein you are walking on the sidewalk while a strong wind is blowing against you. And this sensation is coming from the sky.

"What did you do your holiness?" Yung Ho asks, obviously feeling the same sensation.

"Umm…something like adjusting the valve of a water main. I asked for permission from the assistants of the rain kami and they said it is fine as long as I don't completely stop…wait a minute. Where the hell is Kuraokami?" She looks upwards again, this time looking worried.

"Kuraokami?" Javin asked, not minding the rain starting to wet his white clothes.

"Japanese rain god. One of the most…well…he doesn't like anyone telling him how to do his job or anyone else doing his job. Me tweaking his rain without his permission should have had him going here and yelling at me for that." She paused for a while and then continues. "First, Ebisu, Daikokuten and Masakado are not here, and now Kuraokami, that proud workaholic, is not in his workplace. Something is wrong here."

I feel cold at that moment, when she said those last three words.

Suddenly we hear the sound of a footstep.

I and everyone else whirl towards the origin of the sound.

I have my hands raised up and clenched in the classic boxing stance, ready for anything, only to find out that it was just the same Shinshoku as before, who is raising his hands in surrender with an expression saying 'I'm not here to start a fight'.

"Oh. Sorry sir." I apologize as I lower my arms, feeling embarrassed at almost raising my arms against a priest.

I also hear all the others say their apologies and lowered their own hands, including Yung Ho, who said his with reluctance.

The Shinshoku, understanding our gesture, raises his hands, shakes his head and says something that felt to me like 'no problem'.  
>The kid replies in the same language with something, and then she paused and looks back at us, realizing something.<p>

Except for Yung Ho and the kid, we don't know Japanese.

Annan sighs, raises her two hands and says the first incantation that I heard clearly since the start of this whole FUBAR, in a tone that says she is embarrassed about the fact that she forgot.

"I, Annan of the island of trees, will that these people can understand Japanese and can be understood by the Japanese, wherever they are."

And then she claps her hands once, and then lowers them.

For a second, I felt something strange, other than that strong wind sensation that I talked about a while earlier.

And then that sensation instantly went away.

"Do you understand me now?" Annan says to us in the same language the Shinshoku used earlier.

To describe the effects of the spell, it was…like your seatmate is translating the foreign movie, word for word and sentence for sentence, in your ear while in the background the movie is droning on in its original language. The only difference is that it is happening in your mind, and there are no discrepancies in the translation.

All of us reply with several kinds of affirmation at around the same time.

A moment later I turn towards the Shinshoku.

"I also apologize for earlier." I say to him.

"No problem" the Shinshoku says to us in English.

…what.

The Shinshoku smile at our dumbfounded expressions, which includes Annan.

"I never knew you know English Takayama." the kid tells him.

"I liked singing English songs at the karaoke bar in my youth." Takayama says in a playful tone. He then turned towards us and bows a little, saying the following.

"Good evening gentlemen. My name is Takayama Kojiro, the Guji of Kanda Myojin. I welcome you to our temple, so please follow me."  
>Upon coming out of his bow, I notice he is smiling, but suddenly and for just a moment, it dims as his sight comes across Yung Ho, and then returns to normal as he looks at the others.<p>

…that reminds me, he heard Yung Ho badmouth two Japanese gods earlier. In a VERY provocative way.

God help us. I don't want to get involved in a fight over religion…well…actually, I am willing to defend and debate the tenets of my faith, as I understand them, when someone badmouths it, but I will not START a fight about religion, more so now that I learned that God does exist, and he is some sort of superpower over all the other…deities of the other religions.

Takayama turned around, and beckons to us to follow him. This prompts all of us to pack up the rainwear as fast as we can and follow him.

We came to the priest's quarters. It is in a 12 story apartment building, located on the right side of the temple gate (that is, if you are going to enter Kanda shrine), which Takayama told us is called the Zuishin-mon. The apartment building is distinctive because it is the closest multistory building to the Kanda shrine, easily seen from the middle of the temple grounds, and because of the two blue billboards attached to the side of the building that is advertising a company called Fujita (which I understood only because the name of the company is painted in the English alphabet).

We followed Takayama through the entrance of the building, up the stairs (there were people in the elevator, enough that if our party entered that elevator it would overload, and confuse the other people in it since they couldn't see any reason for it to do so. Speaking of which, Annan still had that 'don't notice me' spell up and working), and to the door of his room on the 3rd floor. On the way, Annan was apologized to Takayama for the inconvenience.

In response he said that he needed the exercise, since he is getting old nowadays.

I agree. I lightly exercise for the same reason. That, and since if I die, I want to be able to face God and say that I didn't waste the body that he gave to me at birth.

Speaking of Takayama, he is a short (Thuc or Yung Ho are around the same height as my nose. Takeyama is shorter, reaching only to my shoulder), old man around my age, wearing a red shirt under a grey suit and cream colored pants.

As of this moment, we were already at the front of his door and are just waiting for Takayama to open the door and enter.  
>Takeyama knocked on the door and shouts.<p>

"Juri! It's me! Open up the door!"

'His wife?' I thought to myself.

The door opens. The one who opened it is a bespectacled teenage girl with black and shoulder length ponytail who is taller than Takeyama but shorter than Thuc. She is wearing a loose, yellow shirt and white pajamas, and is wearing white flip-flops.  
>"What took you so long grandfather?" Juri asks. And then she suddenly stops talking.<p>

Her eyes are shifting, looking around her grandfather. Then she leaned over him, trying to look at the space behind him, which is where we were standing. Yet it appears she can't see us, but she knows there is something there.

Takayama smiled and nods to himself.

"Good. Good. I see you are keeping up with your training. Now, we have guests from the supernatural world Juri, so dress up in something better than your sleepwear."

Juri blushed, quickly nods, and closes the door.

Takeyama chuckled a little, and then he turns towards us.

"I'm sorry for the accidental peepshow. My granddaughter likes to change into her sleepwear immediately whenever she is at home, and she just won't listen to me or her parents." he says this with an apologetic and embarrassed smile.

"Ha! If you think that's embarrassing, you should have seen that one time, when Thien left my daughter with my little sister, who is 14 at the time, along with my little sister's friend. You know what my daughter did? She grabbed my little sister's left tit and bit it, thinking she would get milk from there, right in front of the boy." Thuc replies, in a curiously proud way.

"How did you know of the story? You said that as if you were not there" Takayama asks.  
>Thuc grins.<p>

"That boy became my brother in law later on. Come to think of it, he said he felt jealous when that happened."

"The hell Thuc?!" I ask, not believing the gall of the brother in law.

Thuc chuckled and says "Of course he said that AFTER he married her. Otherwise, I would have punched him."

He delivers the last sentence in a serious voice.

I shake my head in amuse…wait a minute...has this turned a competition between grandfathers?

Dang it, I'm joining in! I am a grandfather too! I got LOTS of embarrassing stories here.

"That's all Thuc? Well, I got an embarrassing story about my offspring, told by my son Arnold to me. When his daughter, Regina was around 8 years old, they once visited the house of his brother in law. So, the adults are talking while the kids are running around playing. Now, Regina is quite a curious kid even back then, so she was looking around the house when she stumbled upon some magazines. Apparently, after an hour of looking at the pictures, she took the magazines and went to her parents and uncle asking what the people are doing there, with a particular page opened to the whole world, and why she isn't fat in her chest."

"Are you telling me what I think you are telling me?" Thuc asks me with an open mouth.

I nod with a grin.

"Yeah. It's a Playboy magazine, full of naked women and porn pictures."

Takayama laughs.

"That must have been awkward." Thuc comments.

"Very awkward. That was the day Regina learned about the birds and the bees." I shake my head while saying that, remembering when it was mine and Mary's turn to talk about THAT topic with our kids.

Well…just as it should be, I say. The parents must not leave teaching about sex to some government employee, no matter how noble the job of teaching is. They should contribute too.

"Well, Juri here did almost same thing when she was 10. The only difference is she got hold of her elder brother's pornographic tape. What's worse, it was an uncensored one. I almost got a heart attack when the girl asked us if having sex really feels good, while in the background the woman is being fucked from behind by some man and moaning very shamelessly, and in such a way that you can see everything. E-VERY-THING."

"Us?" I ask him, trying to imagine the scene in my head, and cringing at the result.

"Me, my son and daughter in law, and then my grandson. We went to buy a cake for Juri since it was her birthday."  
>"I have one that would top that." Thuc says.<p>

"Oh really?" Yung Ho suddenly enters our conversation.

I notice Takayama frown very briefly from the side of my left eye, while Thuc and me are looking at Yung Ho, who looks very interested in our conversation.

"Yes. I have one. Has any of your children or grandchildren ever peeked in on you and your wife while having sex?"

…Mother of God.

Both me and Takayama are looking at him, open mouthed and in amazement, at the fact that Thuc can say such a thing while looking so…so nonchalant. Yung Ho, on the other hand, is biting his lip and red faced in laughter.

"I don't believe you man. No one can say that with a straight face." I tell him.

"I agree." Takayama answered.

"I'm amazed that I'm agreeing with a Japanese, but I have the same sentiment Thuc." Yung Ho says.

Immediately after he said this sentence, Takayama looks at Yung Ho with the same look one would have when they are wondering if this person is deliberately picking a fight or not.

Me and Thuc are also starting to look at Yung Ho disagreeably, because of the barely disguised…eagerness. Yung Ho has a professional face on, but the words he spouts when referring to the Japanese, are…well…full of baits for a fight.

Looking back at Takayama, he doesn't look like he has any apprehension about fighting, instead, it looks like he is also very eager to swallow the bait hook line and sinker.

And he looks like he knows how to fight.

I quickly look back at Thuc, only to see him about to scold Yung Ho. I decide my job for now is to try and calm Takayama down.  
>"How is your children seeing you have sex impossible? That happens all the time back home." Javin suddenly butts in.<p>

We all look at him, surprised at his sudden interruption and amazed at his statement. And a moment later I see that Javin said that on purpose, because he is looking at the all of us with an imploring look that says please don't fight.

Connla also joins in the conversation with a statement that completely brought everyone's thoughts to a halt, finishing Javin's attempt to stop a fight.

"I also happened to see my mother having sex once."

…I have no words to use at this moment.

…why, oh why did I think it is a good idea to throw in THAT story about Regina and Arnold? I feel like doing a facepalm, right about now.

"I think I must have heard that wrong. Care to repeat that Con?" Annan asks him from where she is standing silently (Takeyama, Thuc and me are in front, Javin and Yung Ho are behind and to the left of me, and Connla and Annan behind and to right of me) in a tone I couldn't describe.

"Con?" Connla turns to Annan with a questioning look.

"You want a nickname, you got it. Now answer me Con." she asks in that feminine tone of voice that tells you the woman (or girl) will get her answer or things will get nasty.

"I said I once saw my mother having sex once, around 3 or 4 months before I went to Ireland." Connla says in a straight voice, just like a Private reporting to the Sergeant.

…good times. Good times.

A few moments passed in silence after Connla's last sentence. And then Annan presses on.

"Well, that's all?"

"I promised mother that I will not tell anything more about that accident other than I found her having sex with a man." Connla  
>replies.<p>

The kid opens her mouth, about to say something, when Connla beats her to it with just one word.

"Annan." he says…in the same tone of voice that a wife uses to say no to the husband when…well…when us men are feeling a little…frisky.

…Oh never mind THOSE blueball memories, but this is hilarious.

This is a role reversal! Usually it is the missus who says that, not the HUSBAND. Now the only question is…will it work?

The kid and Connla stare at each other for a few more moments, and then Annan sighs.

"Would you tell me about it one of these days?" she asks, in the same way a child pleads their parent for just this one toy, and they will be a good boy for the whole year.

" No" Connla says in a tone that says the conversation is finished.

The kid sighed, momentarily looks down, and then looks up and says "Fine. You win."

…

He did it. He…he…

I clap.

All the men there slowly clap at the historic moment we just witnessed.

One small step for a boy, a historical moment for all loving and non wife-beating husbands.

"What are you elders clapping for?" Connla asks us in a tone of equal parts confused, curious and embarrassed.

"Don't mind them Con." the kid told him. Then she glares at us and says "And stop clapping! I know what you old men are thinking and we aren't like that."

Connla looks at her when she said the words 'we aren't like that' and has a…wondering and worried look on his face a moment later.  
>The kid looks back to him, and add two more words.<p>

"For now."

…I smile and wished Connla luck.

"Juri, what's taking you so long?" Takayama says in loud voice.

"Putting on the work clothes! It's a kami grandfather! You expect me to wear casual clothing in front of a kami?!" came the muffled shout of Juri from the other side of the door.

"With this gaijin kami? Yes! Just put on a bra, a panty, a shirt and pants and you are fine Juri. Now MOVE! We're waiting and hungry!" Takayama is starting to yell.

Thankfully, no one else is in the hallway at the time.

I slightly shake my head. And then I notice Thuc and Yung Ho talking to each other very softly a little distance away, out of Takayama's line of sight. Thuc looks furious while Yung Ho is gritting his teeth.

Well…I think that's a general dressing down his subordinate…except I have never seen any lower ranked personnel show their emotions so openly to the superior officer.

…Not good for military discipline but a good deal better than fragging.

I look down, trying to give them privacy. It was only then I notice that the floor tiles are shiny enough to reflect images. Looking down therefore only let me their reflections.

…well I AM curious, and I did try to look away once…

It's God who placed those floor tiles there, so that means he wants me to see, no?

A few moments later I finally gave in to my curiosity.

Yung Ho has just said something to Thuc that slowly wipes of the fury on his face and has Thuc looking at Yung Ho in shock. He quickly looks away, ruffles his hair quickly thinking of something, and he looks back at him, suddenly clutching both of Yung Ho's shoulders.

He moves his face closer to Thuc, looking him in the eyes, and starts saying something, more softly than ever before. The gritted jaw slowly went away from Yung Ho's features and his face finally becomes relaxed.

A few moments later he then nods.

Upon seeing him nod, Thuc smiled and pats Yung Ho's left shoulder, saying something at the same time.

I wish I knew what they just talked about.

The door suddenly opens, along with Takayama saying "Finally!" in an exasperated tone.

Juri is now wearing a red and white outfit composed of a white shirt with long and extremely loose sleeves, tucked in a pleated, ankle length, red skirt. She also isn't wearing eyeglasses anymore.

Maybe she is wearing contact lenses now.

"That is fast." Takayama mutters.

"What are you complaining about now Grandpa? You want 'fast', I did 'fast'." Juri replies back in an exasperated tone, her hands resting on her waist.

"Alright, alright. Let me and the guests enter."

"But I still can't see them" Juri complained, looking in our general direction.

Takayama looked at Annan and asks.

"With your permission, Annan?"

The kid nods.

Takayama smiles, and suddenly brings his hands up in prayer and says the following.

"In Ebisu's name, DISPEL!"

…I feel nothing-

Juri suddenly leans back with a surprised expression. And then she quickly manages to calm down and bow to us.

"My name is Takayama Juri, honored guests. I welcome you to the temporary home of the Takayama family."

Oh. Now I remember. It's the same deal as with Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean names.

Juri steps aside from the door, letting us enter.

But before I am able to do so (I was the one in the front), Kojiro extends his right arm, blocking the doorway and says the following.  
>"Wait, I forgot to mention something. Here in Japan, when you enter someone's home, you take off your shoes, and if needed, the socks."<p>

I look down at my boots.

Well, they ARE dirty. I then look at Kojiro's floor tiles.

They are white, square ceramic tiles with slightly irregular surface for better contact.

The slightest amount of dirt would be very noticeable on this floor. Never mind mud.

Understanding the need for taking off my footwear, I bend down and start to untie the laces on my boots, only to see the legs of Annan, Connla, Javin and Thuc quickly slip off their sandals and step into the living room.

The only ones left at the entrance of the door are me and Yung Ho, who had already taken off one of his boots and is untying the laces on the other one.

Stupid sandals. Stupid laces. Stupid, stupid…there!

I have slipped off one of my boots, only to see Yung Ho entering already.

Damn it.

Once I had finished taking off my boots and socks (which I put in the boots) and putting them near where the others put theirs, I stepped into the apartment while Takayama closed the door and followed.

I see that the room is a cozy family apartment.

In the middle of the shoebox shaped room is a low wooden table, at the side of the room to my left is a TV, showing a local baseball game, showing a stadium filled with people.

I remember that the Japanese are also a baseball loving people.

Above the TV is a picture frame showing a picture of a happy family. I recognize Kojiro, a woman who appears to be his wife, a younger looking Juri dressed in a uniform that would not be out of place of those Catholic run schools, and a man and woman dressed in business suits who I assume must be Juri's parents.

To my front, opposite the doorway, is a tabletop complete with a faucet and sink built into it, and beside is another counter with an electric stove (occupied by a pot and kettle) and a rice cooker on it. Beside that is the refrigerator, while above the tabletop is a cabinet with plates and glasses.

And to my left is a door to a sizable room of some sort. And finally, to the northeast of where I am standing is a hallway leading to a balcony with a sliding glass door, and a clothes rack where clothes are being dried off in the wind. And slightly out of sight is another door.

All in all, it's a room that I approve of.

I wonder how much they are paying for this room?

I walk up to beside Yung Ho and stand beside the low table. Except for Juri, who is tending to the soup, everyone is standing around the low table.

"Sit, sit honored guests. You must be thirsty by now, no? Let me get some water." Kojiro tells us with a smile and gesturing with his right hand toward the floor. Then he immediately goes to the refrigerator and takes out a green plastic pitcher of water.  
>He immediately frowned, shaking the pitcher slightly. Then he looks inside and 'tsk'ed.<p>

"Juri, do we still have more drinking water for our guests?"

Juri looks at Takayama, and then says.

"I'm sorry grandfather, we just ran out when I drank some. That's why I am boiling some water."

"Don't worry Kojiro. We have water of our own." I answer as I, along with the others, sit Indian style on the floor.

…we could use a carpet or a pillow here. The floor is warm enough, but it's hard on the rear.

Kojiro looks at me strangely for a moment. And then his expression changes to one that says he realized something.

"What?" I ask.

"Calling people by their first names without any honorifics are only done when you are a very close friend of the person in question or married to them." the kid says.

"Is that it? Well, thanks kid." I say.

"Would you stop calling me kid? I am starting to get pissed off with that name." Annan suddenly snaps at me.

I look at her, and then pretend to think about it, complete with usual motions of someone doing so.

Actually, I had something I want her to start learning since this afternoon.

"Well," I look up at her and put my hand down. Then I continue speaking. "You could ask politely."

Annan glares at me, and she looks like she wants to hit me with the wooden stick she has. Then she looks down at her left arm, where Connla's right hand is lightly holding her. Upon looking at his face, she sees Connla shaking his head.

Annan looks at him in the eyes, with a facial expression that says 'I want to hit him, and hit him hard'.

Connla's eyes narrow, conveying the expression of disapproval.

"But-" Annan softly mutters.

"You can ask politely Annan" Connla interrupts with a mutter.

Annan closes her eyes, sighs, and then looks at me with a neutral expression.

"Can you please stop calling me kid and call me by my name?"

"Well, alright little lady. From now on you are either Annan or little lady."

Annan glares at me again.

"Little lady is better than kid, isn't it Annan?" Connla asks Annan.

"Not much better" she comments.

"But it IS better, right?"

"…yes." Annan admits. Then she continues, "But I still prefer my real name."

I smile.

Well, it is getting tiring, constantly calling Annan 'kid'. 'Little lady' is also a bit much for the mouth if you use it all the time. I will be calling her Annan more often than not from now on.

"Moving on" Connla said, trying to make some talk, "Kojiro, if you want you can have water from us. After all, we are the ones imposing here."

Kojiro puts down the pitcher of water on the countertop and shakes his head.

"Oh no, dear guest. That would be embarassing. I am supposed to serve you here-"

"But we insist Kojiro" Thuc joins in persuading Kojiro, at the same time opening his bag ready to pull something out.

"But…" Kojiro looks like he is refusing because he is following some script…then he suddenly improvises away from it.

"Where would you have water?" he asked, curious.

While I open my bag, and hearing the others open theirs, I ask Annan "Does my bag have that infinite something magic, Annan?"  
>"Yes" she says.<p>

"Good" I say while pulling out a 1-liter water bottle.

I see Yung Ho put his metal water canteen on the table, while Thuc pulls a 1 liter bottle of water with Vietnamese writings…and a flag of the United States on it.

"What on earth is the Stars and Stripes doing on a Vietnamese water bottle?" I incredulously asked Thuc, pointing at the bottle with my right hand.

Thuc smiled and says one word.

"Franchising."

…well, can't say anything bad about that. It helps the U.S. economy, I think. I just wish the dollars also go to us low income folks.

I nod to show I understood. Then I see what Javin took out.

He took out 2 wineskins that would not look out of place in the Bible. And speaking of the content…

"What do those waterskins contain? Wine or water?" I ask, curious about it.

Well…this is as close as I am going to get to Abraham. And…I'm not a drunkard but I do like to taste wine. At most, half a glass of wine in a party.

"One is clean water from the Ganges, and the other is Soma." He says.

"Soma?" Yung Ho asks, interested.

"It's a drink made from the juice of a certain species of lotus from India." Annan says. A moment later she continues. "But I advise against drinking it yourself."

"Why? How high is the proof?" I ask.

"Proof? It's an entheogen. The proof isn't high, YOU go high."

That surprises me.

"What's an entheogen?" Yung Ho asks while I am speechless.

"It was coined by some botanists and mythology experts in the 70's. Basically its drugs used for religion like-"

"Amanita Muscaria." he interrupts in a slow voice filled with realization.

Annan blinked and then says "Yes. Fly agaric is one. How did-" she suddenly stopped, and then had this enlightened look on her face.  
>"…oh right. Siberia. Does this mean you have tried the mushroom before?"<p>

"Paksu Mudang, your holiness. Paksu Mudang. It's part of my religious training." he grins.

While they are talking about fly agaric I am… the implication of what they just said…

This topic…is strange to me.

This practice is strange for me.

Religion and drugs? Drugs…and Religion?

I…I…drugs are bad. A religion that uses them…isn't religion supposed to be good?

I immediately clear my mind. No good dwelling on strange practices for now.

"So, you get yourself high for religious purposes?" Thuc says in a curious tone of voice.

…and he unwittingly lets me down.

I sighed, very silently.

"It's one way of contacting the spirits among a lot of others, but its seldom used because it is dangerous. I myself only plan to use it when I have no other choice."

"Oh. How about this Soma?"

"It's from India, so I never heard of it. Javin, how is it?"

"The Soma works as it is said in the myths, but you don't get high."

"…excuse me?" Yung Ho asks, blinking twice.

I have the same thought.

"My body is healed and rendered immortal from the inside, I can see things bathed in light while inside a cave, but I can never get addicted to Soma no matter how much I drink, nor will I get poisoned since I will just naturally let it out as piss, but most important of all, I am still sober all the time."

I look at Yung Ho and Thuc, who are looking at each other and at me.

"Sounds like the only thing better is if Jesus is the combat medic." I say.

"Or me healing people." Annan butts in.

We nod nevertheless.

"Sounds like a health pack or potion from a computer game crossed with a night vision gear" I hear Juri say from the stove.

I quickly look at her and see she is already turning off the electric stove.

"Finally." Kojiro says from where he is standing, looking at his granddaughter.

It seems he had put the pitcher of water inside the refrigerator some time ago.

Juri, after turning the stove off, reached into the cabinet above her and starts taking out bowls.

I turn back towards the table.

"Will you also drink that Soma for night vision?" I ask, thinking about the moon rock pendants we have around our necks.

"The moon rock pendants?" Javin asks, raising the one he has.

I nod.

"Just in case. I don't remember her holiness Daesun saying these are unbreakable."

…there is that.

Javin suddenly looked like he thought of something new, and then looks at Annan.

"You holiness, how do magic with the same intent cast by different gods interact with each other if they are working at the same time?"

"At the same time?" she said, at the same time making space for Juri who is already putting the bowls filled with soup one by one on the table.

"Well" she continued. "it either works or one of the magic cast on the subject will refuse to work while the other is still on. It depends, really. Let's try it later, for now let's just eat the food."

Javin nods.

"Before that, can I ask what how effective is that Soma when it comes to wounds?" Yung Ho says to him.

"I will demonstrate it, but I have to use a sword for it." he turns towards Kojiro. "May I ask for your permission to draw my sword in your home?"

Kojiro looks surprised.

Not that I don't understand his feelings. I will have the same expression if someone asks for permission to draw their gun inside the cabin.

"Weapon? Are you all armed?" he manages to ask, looking at us.

"We are all armed." Yung Ho says in a smug voice.

Kojiro looks at him, and quickly look away.

"As long as it is just a sword." he says.

Javin reached for his backpack beside him, opens the flap, and puts his left hand in. When he withdraws it, he has his sword still in its sheath.

"What kind of sword is that?" Juri asked, as she starts putting down bowls filled with rice on the table one by one, glancing as often as she can at the sword that Javin is holding.

"This is called a Talwar." he said as he slides the sheath off.

The blade of his Talwar is rusty and unadorned, but looking at it gives me the feeling of…regret and the kind of determination associated with the phrase 'Not this day.' It also smells of gunpowder and blood, and inexplicably makes me taste…salt on my tongue.

"It's haunted." Yung Ho says.

"Agreed." Thuc says.

Kojiro and Juri nod.

Haunted swords?

"Of course it is haunted. I was holding this Talwar when I died." Javin says.

"What?" Kojiro asks in a dumbfounded way.

"I am holding this Talwar when-"

"Not that one. When you died? But?" he points to him, obviously referring to Javin's body being here physically. And then he points to Connla and said "I can tell he is a spirit given physical form from the magic around him. Not you."

"What? No Japanese god can raise a person from death?"

Kojiro just stares at him, openmouthed.

Silence reigned for a few moments on the part of the Japanese, except for the noises made by Juri.

"The nearest thing to that in Japan is when Izanagi tried to bring Izanami from Yomi no kuni, the land of the dead. He didn't succeed." Juri responds for her dumbfounded grandfather. Then she looks at Javin, one hand on her waist and another hand hanging down by her side, having just finished putting chopsticks and Chinese spoons on the table.

She continues.

"You know Mr. Javin, this is honestly the first time I have ever seen anyone who had been raised from the dead. How did it feel like?"

"Feel like?"

"Getting raised from the dead" Kojiro asks, finally snapping out of it.

"One moment I was dead, and I don't need to breath. The other I am gasping for air, feeling cold and shaking in awe from the holiness of the goddesses who raised me from death."

"How did they do it?"

"They just said, altogether, 'You are alive again' and it happened."

"That's a little different from mine." Yung Ho says.

"You too, sir?" Juri asks.

I raise my hand and absentmindedly say, "I am the only human here who is still alive." I then turn to the others and ask "How did it go for you guys?"

"Her holiness Daesun sang and danced, and shone moonlight at me." Yung Ho says to us.

Thuc also gives his own experience.

"Au Co and Lac Long Quan suddenly doused me with water from a wooden bucket they both held together."

The Japanese are quiet for a while.

I am also quiet, because I am…the situation has finally caught up with my faith, and I am in denial.

The only being that I am willing to acknowledge as being able to raise the dead is Jesus, the Son of God. And yet…here these guys are…and here I am in another place, and gods and spirits and magic…

…God is real, they said so.

God is real and I believe in him.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  
>I believe in God. I believein .IbelieveBelieveBELIEVE.<p>

"Herbert?" a voice suddenly interrupts my thoughts.

I blink to see Thuc looking at me with a concerned face.

I blink once, and then one more time. And then I finally calm down.

Thank God for friends.

I look to see that everyone is already seated around the table, about to dig in to the rice and the soup, both coming from two pots that were placed in the middle of the table. But instead they are looking at me with the same expression as Thuc.

"…did I miss anything?" I manage to say, feeling some sweat trickle down my face, which I quickly wipe away with my handkerchief.  
>"You missed my demonstration" Javin says while he is holding his left hand.<p>

"You were just staring off into the air elder Ward. Are you alright?" Connla asks me.

"…just thinking about something" I reply.

They look at me for a few more moments, and then Thuc, Javin and Yung Ho slowly goes back to for their chopsticks and bowls of rice.

"So what did I miss?" I nonchalantly ask while picking up my own chopsticks and rice bowl.

…don't look at me like that. I may not have learned the language and have forgotten what I do know, but I did know how to eat Asian style in Vietnam.

"You missed seeing a stab wound knit itself back to normal, and the blood literally poured back into the wound like a slow motion camera in reverse." Thuc says as he is about to put in his mouth a piece of potato.

Kojiro suddenly coughs.

Those of us who are holding chopsticks look to see the other four staring at us with an expression of mixed shock, disbelief and outrage.

I blink.

"Did we do something wrong elders and ladies?" Javin asked, putting down his chopsticks and bowl.

I notice that Juri had her hands in the prayer position.

Oh. Grace before meals.

"Are we supposed to say Grace? Sorry about that. I often forget to do so." I sheepishly say.

Annan is about to say something but Kojiro beat her to it.

"Never isn't really expected from someone not familiar with Japan."

"What are we supposed to do?" Thuc asks.

"Say Itadakimasu before eating." Connla answers.

"And that means?" I ask.

"I gratefully receive." Yung Ho and Kojiro both answer at the same time, making them both look at each other, and then down at their food.

"Oh…I'll stick with Grace?"

"Go ahead. I'm all for religious diversity." he says to me.

I quickly make the sign of the cross, clasp my hands in prayer, close my eyes and recited the prayer as it was taught to me.  
>"Bless us oh Lord and these thy gifts, which we have received from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen."<p>

I open my eyes and lay my hands on the table.

"At this rate we are all going to take turns saying a prayer before the meal." Javin says.

"You also want a turn at this?" I ask.

He smiles.

"Why not? I am proud of my religion."

He quickly bow his head a little and then did his own prayer.

"Brahmaarpanam Brahma Havir, Brahmaagnau Brahmanaa Hutam, Brahmaiva Tena Gantavyam, Brahma Karma Samaadhinaha."

"And what does that mean?" I ask.

"Brahman is the oblation; Brahman is everything constituting the offerings; by Brahman is the oblation poured into the fire of Brahman; Brahman verily shall be reached by him who always sees Brahman in all actions."

"That…that sounds beautiful, in a religious way. As beautiful as the church songs back home." I say.

And I mean it.

Javin suddenly grins.

"Thanks Mr. Ward. Still, that's the complicated word for word translation. The gist of it is that the food is God, the plates, table, spoons and chopsticks is God, The eater is God, hunger is God, even the act of eating is God"

As he said the second sentence, he pointed to each object that he named, from the food to himself, and even pointing to his stomach when he said 'hunger' and his mouth with the word 'eating'.

"So everything is Brahman, Elder Lad?" Connla asks Javin in a curious tone.

"Yes."

"Even me and An here?"

Javin paused and then said "That's what we Hindus believe, no offense Connla."

"None taken." he says with a smile.

"So does anyone else want to say their own version of a prayer before meals?" Annan asks.

Yung Ho quickly reacted.

"In Korea we just say 'Jal Meokgesseumnida' before we eat. It means 'I will eat well'."

"It is not religious in origin?" I ask.

"No."

"Neither is ours" Kojiro butts in.

"How about you Thuc?" Yung Ho asks him.

Thuc shrugs.

"We don't really have a prayer before meal tradition back home."

Yung Ho made an 'oh' sound, nodding at the same time.

"But in the spirit of things, I might as well make one up. I can't remember what the Buddhists say before their meals anyways."  
>He then looks down at the food in front of him and muses on the words he would use.<p>

"Let's see…I thank my ancestors for the opportunity to taste the food of another country, I…thank the spirits and gods involved with making this rice and tofu, this fish and seaweed and the water used for this meal."

He paused for a few moments, and then ends his prayer with "Thank you everyone". He then looks up and shrug at us.  
>"I'm sure they got the message Thuc." Annan said, with a thumbs up.<p>

Thuc also looks at her for a moment.

"How about you and Connla, you holiness?" he asks.

Annan raises her eyebrow.

"You want me, a goddess, to pray for the food that is offered to me? Who am I going to pray to? Myself?"

Thuc face palms with a smile, shaking his head while the others, including me, chuckle in amusement.

"And you Connla?" Yung Ho ask.

Connla smiles.

"Why pray when the goddess I worship is beside me?"

We all looked at him, especially Annan, who…slightly blushes from the words he used.

The only other individual of note who did something else is Juri, who has the same facial expression as my wife did when she saw a pair of children holding hands and said something about them being married someday.

Which reminds me, those two did marry twenty years ago.

Annan manages to finally say something after a few moment of blushing while looking at Connla.

"You silly joker. You silly, silly joker" she says, shaking her head.

I have to smile at the scene. And something pops into my mind.

"Well, since you are a goddess, why don't you bless the food?" I say.

All the others look at me, and all the other humans suddenly had this look about them, the one that you see on a person who knows they are going to see something that has barely been seen before.

"I have never heard of anything like that myself." Kojiro says to himself.

"A deity blessing the food they are about to eat in the presence of their worshippers. Unseen before." Juri also joined in, while nodding.

I take exception to that.

"Actually, Jesus of Nazareth did that during the Last Supper." I correct them.

Juri snaps her fingers.

"Oh yeah. I think I heard about that."

…I think I heard about that.

I sigh.  
>Now I know how a foreigner feels when an American says that regarding a piece of history related to us.<p>

"Now an American knows how it feels like." Yung Ho comments.

I look up to see Thuc, Yung Ho, Juri and Kojiro slightly smiling at the spectacle of me sighing at those words.

And I can't fault them for it.

Teachers of America, need any help from us senior citizens?

"So" Annan said, steering the conversation back at her "You guys want me to bless, to actually bless the food we are about to eat?"  
>We said yes.<p>

"Alright, I will, but…" she pauses for a moment.

"But?" Connla asks.

"I wanna hear your prayer first Con." she looks at him.

"Oh come on, really?"

She looks at him with pleading eyes.

"Oh all right, alright. Here goes."

Connla coughs once and then continues.

"Blessed be to the provider of this meal. May his roof never fall on him, may he never fall down to the floor, may he have a bountiful life and may he die a good death, all these I pray to Annan."

Immediately after this he asks Javin "May I?" pointing at the wineskin filled with water.

Javin gives it to him. Connla quickly toasts Kojiro and then drinks from the wineskin.

After giving it back to Javin, he looked at Annan and asks her.

"There. Satisfied?"

"Actually I'm happy. It's been a long time since anyone properly prayed to me."

As she said the latter part of that sentence she glances at me from the corner of her eyes.

…definitely not letting the girls near anything alcoholic for the rest of my life. Definitely.

"With that done," Annan looked towards the food and holds her hands over the table. And the next moment she looks as ancient as the forests, smells like the water of a sea and a lake and a river with a forest beside it, and feels like the unknown forests and the mountains that one has just newly discovered on a mission for humankind itself.

"I will the food to never run out until the owner wishes it to run out. I will the food to never spoil until the food runs out. I will the plates, the bowls, the soup spoon and the chopsticks to never break, and I will this abode to never collapse, to never break until the gods will it to, and when they will it, to give the host prior notice before breaking it. All these I give as a blessing to my host."  
>After she said that, she looks at everyone and asks.<p>

"Satisfied?"

I look at the owners of the apartment room, and see them with the same faces that a Powerball winner has.

"You look like you won a lotto." I comment with that in mind.

"In a way, they did win the jackpot." Thuc answeres me.

"They only expected a blessing for the food, something like good luck for a day or that they have healthy lives. Instead they got food to last them for as long as they want to and an apartment that will never collapse in an earthquake, in a part of the world famous for its earthquakes." Yung Ho further explains.

I nod to show my understanding.

"I thank you for that, but you didn't have to go that far your holiness." Kojiro says in a weak voice.

"Grandpa." Juri hisses at him.

Annan chuckles.

"I know I didn't have to go that far, but it has been a long time since I even acted as a deity. I don't want to pass up this chance."

'Meaning you have been more a demon than a god these past years?' I thought to myself.

"Well now that is over, when do we eat?" Annan ask.

This jolts Kojiro and Juri into action. They quickly said "Itadakimasu" and pick up their eating utensils.

"Eat, my guests. Eat." Kojiro said, gesturing to the food with his right hand while pointing the chopsticks in that hand towards himself.  
>Most of us reached for our own eating utensils at this point, with only one exception. Yung Ho.<p>

Yung Ho said "Jal Meokgesseumnida." before reaching for his chopsticks, making him the last one to start eating.

The food is something new to my taste. It has been a long time since I had tasted rice, and to be honest I had actually forgotten the taste due to eating my wife's Kentuckian cuisine, with her specialty being, of all things, that of Chili con carne and frog leg flavored johnnycakes.

Back to the food at present, I used to only eat plain rice as it was served to me by the waiter, but this time I experimented. I doused the rice in miso soup and ended up using the soup spoon to eat the rice as a result, but the taste is worth it for me.

Imagine the taste of dried anchovies and seaweed, along with potatoes, all mixed up and into the miso paste used for the soup. Now imagine that permeating the rice while you chew left to right, right to left.

Now imagine eating that rice with the cooked ingredients themselves in your mouth.

Potatoes and flavored rice? Delicious.

Anchovies and rice? The taste doesn't mix that well but it is still good.

Seaweeds and rice? The seaweeds had already been leached of their entire flavor from the cooking process so I didn't notice any particular taste which belongs to seaweed.

And then when you drink the miso soup itself with nothing else in your mouth? Heavenly.

I feel the urge to compliment the cook after finishing one bowl of rice and soup.

"Juri, as a grandfather I tell you this. Whoever marries you is going to be one lucky son of a gun, if he is going to be eating food this heavenly all the time."

Juri blushes and says "Thank you, Mr…" she then had an uncertain look on her face.

I look towards the others and ask.

"Just asking, did we all introduce ourselves?"

A few moments of silence reigns, and then we all feel embarrassed.

We forgot to introduce ourselves! God help us! How embarrassing.

We quickly took turns introducing ourselves to them.

"My name is Herbert Ward of Kentucky, United States." I say with an apologetic smile.

"Cha Yung Ho. Paksu Mudang. Pusan, South Korea." Yung Ho says in a slightly grumpy voice.

"I am Lieu Van Thuc, from Binh Phuoc, Vietnam. A Thieu Thuong in the Vietnam People's Army." he says in a happy voice.

"Javin Buddhapriya Lad, a Kshatriya of Jhansi, India, young lady." he says in the kind of tone a happily married man gives to a young female acquaintance.

"Connla, son of Setanta, of the land of Letha, or what is now France." Connla said to her.

We expected something from Annan, only to be disappointed with silence.

When we looked at her, she responds with "What? Her grandfather knows who I am."

We stare at her a little more.

"Oh all right. My name is Annan, originally the goddess of earth of Ireland, formerly goddess of predicting death in battle, now the goddess of fertility, cattle and prosperity."

"Fertility? As in pregnancy?" I ask.

"Yes. That fertility. And no, I have no relation with the process of getting a girl pregnant."

I raised my eyebrows.

"No, really. I deal with," she suddenly turns to Juri and Koijro, saying "Sorry for the next few words I will be saying, these will be vulgar," then she turns back to me "I deal with making girls menstruate timely and have healthy eggs, making sure men have healthy sperms, making sure everything inside the body is ok for fertilization. But sex itself? That's not me, that's the jurisdiction of the love and lust gods like Eros, also known as Cupid."

I nod to show understanding, but I still have a hard time separating the words fertility and sex from each other.

I then notice Juri blushing from the words Annan just said in front of the dinner table.

"And yours is?" I ask her, trying to take her mind off the conversation about fertility.

She starts at my words, and then controls herself and lightly bends her head to us and says "My name is Takayama Juri, daughter of Takayama Shinichi and Miya, granddaughter of Takayama Kojiro and Ayako, one of the miko of Kanda Myojin and current 3rd year student of History in Kokugakuin University."

After the introductions were made, we continued eating. And in the middle of the dinner Juri's parents finally came into the room, back from whatever work they came from.

After another round of introductions were made and the two persons had finished changing clothes and being informed of the blessings given to their family, we continued to eat until all of us are full.

And after finishing the meal and cleaning up the table, we all settle down and watch Kojiro outlining his plan to call Ebisu on our behalf.

"Now, we could call him with an all out Kagura, your holiness, but I am not sure we should call him now…I think the kami were called for an emergency meeting three days ago."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Annan asks Kojiro in irritation.

Kojiro shrugs.

"You already sent him a message. I thought a message from a friend would get his attention, but apparently not."

"Meaning we must wait somewhere for the night and try again tomorrow." Annan grumbles.

"Or we could try that Kagura now and if he shows up pissed off, I blame you. Your choice, your holiness."

Annan scratches her head for a few moments, looking to the side. Then she grimaces. And then she nods.

"Please do it."

Kojiro nodded and then turns to Juri.

"You heard the kami. We have a Kagura to do."

Juri nodded, stands up and then walks towards the middle of the room, while most of us moved towards the walls, moving the table at the same time. The only person who did not is Shinichi.

"Father, I know that you and Juri are the experts here, but I have to ask. Where are the props?"

"The props?" I ask.

"Props?" Kojiro asks.

Shinichi nods

Kojiro briefly laughs, leaving his son confused.

"Father?"

"You mean this?" he holds out his right palm up, and suddenly appearing on it is a…stick with a white paper streamer.

"Or this?" a musical instrument of some kind appeared in his left hand. It is a stick, with 3 tiers of little bells.

Shinichi looks from one of them, to the other, and then looks up to Kojiro's face and shrugs.

Kojiro rolls his eyes with a smile, and then tosses the stick with the paper streamer to Juri, who is in the middle of the room. The musical instrument he…disappeared into thin air and in its place are two thin wooden sticks.

"Ready?" he asks her.

Juri nodded and then assumes her position, both her hands clasping the stick upright, and to her chest as in a prayer. And then she bows to the direction she is facing and assumes her position again.

Kojiro starts chanting, the only sounds coming from his mouth a continuous sound that goes like this.  
>"o-o-o-o-O-O-O-O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-" and so on and so forth, with the wooden sticks banging against each other the moment Kojiro's voice…tone goes higher or lower or…whatever the musical term is.<p>

With the first clap of the stick, Juri swing out her hands in a circular motion, with the stick held in the right hand. Her hands end in a position where it looks like she is praying only with the hands clasped above her head. Then she swings them back the other way, towards her chest again.

With the fourth clap of the stick, Juri turns 90 degrees to her right and did the same thing. With the seventh clap of the stick, she turns 180 degrees to her right and then had only the hand holding the stick do the circular motion, ending with it raised above her head while the other hand is just at her chest.

And while she is doing all these her eyes are closed.

This dance continued on for a few more minutes when suddenly Kojiro and Juri suddenly stop the ritual and looked towards the balcony.

At the same time Annan and Yung Ho stiffen up and look in the same direction.

"What took you so…long?" Annan said with a smile that ended with an uncertain tone seeing the expression of the man…no, god before us.

He is wearing a tall, black hat of some sort, a red shirt and white pants, with a white cloth serving as a belt. He is also a slightly chubby man with large earlobes, a mustache and a slightly crippled gait.

And as for the feeling that I get when I look at this god…this is a fisherman among fishermen. This is a fisherman that will make every recreational fisherman in North America weep in envy and seethe with jealousy. Where others will only catch a tuna or a marlin, he will catch a salmon swallowed by a tuna swallowed by a marlin and how on earth do I know that is what will happen when he catches fish?

…oh forget it.

Behind him is a woman with beautiful waist length dark hair tied into a pony tail. She is wearing a dress with geometric designs at the fringes, a headband with the same designs, and…she looks surprisingly European, with fair skin and with eyes you commonly see from us White people.

And at the same time I smell the scent of fresh water and hear the sound of rivers deep in the background as I look at her.

And she looks worried for the god, who is wearing a tired and angry expression, the one a person has after a very frustrating day at work.

"You alright there Leech man?" Annan said, looking worriedly at Ebisu.

"You think this face shows the word 'alright' to you D-Cup? Do you? Do you?" he says in a deadpan voice that nevertheless has a hint of irritation in it while looking at her and then pointing at his face.

We all shake our heads in negation.

Ebisu sighed and then mussed his hair with his right hand.

"Sorry D-Cup. Just had a CRAPPY!" Ebisu suddenly starts yelling.

"CRAPPY, CRAPPY DAY, HAVING MY JOB AND MY OWN PET PEEVE MESSED ABOUT WITH BY SOME INSULT TO BEAUREUCRATS EVERYWHERE IN SOME USELESS LITTLE TOWN IN-"

"Sit down dear!" the woman suddenly yellS, cutting off Ebisu and stamping her left foot.

Ebisu suddenly sits down cross-legged on the floor, his face full of surprise.

When he looks back at the woman (who I assume is Waka-ush, the wife that Annan mentioned earlier) with his mouth opened wide and about to complain, she cuts him off.

"I understand you are angry dear. As angry as when the Yamato kami flung insults and slander at me that first time you introduced me, but this time you are not in the right. You will stop this embarrassing outburst in the abode of ANOTHER FAMILY, you will APOLOGIZE to the others HERE, especially to the Takayamas, and you will sit down and eat of their fare and tell stories or else…"  
>Waka-ush trails off in a threatening way.<p>

"Else?" Ebisu softly asks her in the same way one watches an accident happen from far away, unable to tear their eyes off the tragedy.

"I shall not have sex with you for ten years." she says to him.

Ebisu chokes.

Except for Connla, all of us men wince.

"Too much information, Waka." Annan mutters loud enough to reach my ears.

Waka-ush ignores her.

"You are my first, dear husband of mine. I never had sex all that time before I met you, and I can bear not having sex for ten years after all this time of our marriage." she tells him slowly, while putting her face near his.

"Understand?" Waka-ush finally asks him.

Ebisu only nods.

…well, that's another henpecked husband I now know, besides Thuc.

After Annan introduced us to Ebisu and Waka-ush, and after they had eaten their fill of the reheated pots of infinite food that Juri brought out of the refrigerator, Annan finally got around to asking Ebisu about the outburst from earlier.

"What on earth's got into you earlier, Leech man? All I got from your rant is that some lower ranked kami pissed you off at your job and also got your pet peeve. So? Talk." Annan demands.

Ebisu sighs.

"It's about a number of dead children whom I blessed."

The words 'dead children' instantly get everyone's undivided attention.

"Annan may not have explained it earlier," he continued, looking at me and the others in Annan's party "but I am the Japanese kami of fishermen, luck, workingmen and guardian of the health of small children."

We nod to show we understand how he is related to the kids.

"Since 8 months ago, I started hearing prayers to me asking for my help in searching for the kids who went missing. Naturally, I started investigating when all of a sudden one of the prayers stopped in the middle of a sentence around 4 days ago."

"Stopped in the middle?" Kojiro asked in a serious tone of voice.

"Stopped in the middle." Ebisu replies.

"Doesn't that usually happen when the one praying suddenly died?" Annan said.

"That's what I thought too, so I quickly followed the prayer to its source in Miyazaki city, only to see this lower ranked kami over the sleeping bodies of the whole family, weaving magic over their minds. Naturally he was shocked to see me there, and then he ran."

"He ran?" Annan asked with an incredulous voice.

"He ran. After a chase scene out of an action movie that lasted a whole day and night, complete with magic just shooting everywhere like it is an honest to myself gunfight and actual blows to each other here and there, I finally cornered the little asshole somewhere in Hokkaido, along with Waka-ush here and Ainu friends of ours. After a while of trying to peacefully coax the story out of him I finally gave up and just dragged him to Izumo in Shimane. And it was an event that had never been seen before." he grins, and yet that grin had hints of frustration in it.

"Event never seen before…it's October here now right? Kannazuki?"

"Dragged him there on the last day of Kannazuki, actually. It shocked everyone there to see Ebisu the deaf,"

Deaf? This guy's deaf?

" the one who always never shows up in Izumo during Kannazuki due to several reasons show up for once, along with the never invited before Ainu kamuis, so naturally everyone of the kami there watched me and my friends drag him in front of my father and siblings, and stated what happened. Naturally, since it is father himself who is now asking the questions, the little asshole confessed…and it was bad."

"I don't like the sound of that, your holiness." Kojiro says.

"Whatever it sounds like, the reality is worse. The story, it turns out, is the biggest cover-up in the history of the Japanese pantheon, including so many minor and major kami whom I will not name concerning one little-"

Ebisu's voice started heating up again, but this time he controlled it, certainly because of his wife's threat.

" fuck up in the job of one little asshole. And this fuck up touched the territory of so many kami at the same time, including mine."  
>We are all hooked on his words.<p>

"How does it relate to the dead kids?" Annan asks.

"It's the story of a certain elementary school. It all started with the murder of a mother and child in 1953 in that same school, due to the principal. It was supposed to end there but…circumstances happened. The mother's ghost is stuck in location, and lonely…while the child is…touched, insane. Couldn't find any peace even after slowly driving the principal insane. So…she started killing children by suicide and accidents for…years…to not let her mother be lonely. This continued until 1973, when she somehow went into corporeal form, killed three children herself and implicated the son of the principal that she is using as the vehicle for the murders, driving him more crazy later on and making him commit suicide in the end. And then that is where the story went from bad to worse."

Oh God, a real life horror story.

It's starting to sound like Amityville ain't got nothing on what Ebisu is telling us.

"From that time on, the girl started killing everyone who went into this…this alternate dimension that she had somehow made. We then fast forward to twelve months ago. A popular occult high school personality had posted a charm on her website before disappearing, a bullshit something charm that will make your friendship with the other people doing it with you 'unbreakable'."

At the word unbreakable he made an air quote.

"What she didn't say is that it doesn't work in the first place if you do it right, and even so, the instructions she posted on the blog are wrong. And if you go do this charm wrong-POOF! Straight to the alternate dimension you go. Since she is popular, and since it is on the internet…it's popular with kids ages 8 up…"

Ebisu shakes his head in anger and frustration.

"Oh my God" I muttered to myself, feeling tears threatening to break out.

"Now…three months ago some kids finally managed to send off the girl to peace and then became the first ones to successfully escape that hellhole. But it turns out the alternate dimension…has become something of a sentient being of itself, and has replaced the girl with one of the other kid ghosts she murdered in '73 as the head ghost. Now…now there are hundreds of kids 8 or10 up dead, maybe even thousands. And this asshole, along with his cohorts that dropped the ball on this so badly their only answer is to literally erase or damage the memory and record of the dead from this world, from pictures to birth certificates to finally, the human memory…It is atrocious, horrific, a fuck up as bad as the Americans are doing in Iraq right now."

"Now wait a minute here Mr. Ebisu!-" I yell.

Ebisu interrupts me.

"Well it's true, isn't it Mr. Ward?! Iraq right now is on the verge of civil war, Shiites and Sunnis are killing each other thanks to this al-Sadr character, regardless of the presence of the American army there, no? Just this day somebody blew up a bus station in Karbala, killing at least 37 and wounding more than 150, if you listened to NHK an hour ago."

…I can't answer back and honestly say to myself that I believe it with all of my heart.

I just look away from him in frustration.

I hear Ebisu make the kind of sound one tries to stifle out after getting pinched, and then heard him say moments later "For what's it worth, sorry Mr. Ward for making that example."

I look back to see Ebisu offering his right hand in a handshake.

He feels sincere with it.

I take his hand and shakes it, showing I accept his apology.

"I still protest the comparison. Also, we went in there sincerely believing in the best."

He made a 'hmm' sound, and then shakes his head, saying "Well, now I know. Again I apologize."

I nod this time.

"Ebisu, about the girl you told us about." Annan asked him in…what?

We all look at her to see a goddess in absolute horror, complete with wide eyes and pale skin and shaking oh so slightly.  
>"Annan?" Waka-ush asks in concern for her friend.<p>

"The girl's name wouldn't be Shinozaki Sachiko, is it?"

"How did you know that?!" Ebisu quickly asks in shock.

Waka-ush stares at her with pretty much the same emotion.

Annan opened her mouth, closed it, opens it but her voice failed her.

On the next try, she opens her mouth and manages to say the following, in the most horrified tone of voice I have ever heard, complete with chokes in between.

"C…Cor…Corpse Party. Corpse Party Blood Covered"


	11. I live in a game? asks the geeky god

Chapter 11

"Corpse what?" Ebisu asks her, still in shock.

"It is…it is" Annan keeps on trying to say something.

"What? Come on, speak D-cup!"

"You…you know that one anime? Title is Magical Abenobashi Shopping Arcade?"

"Not-" Ebisu immediately stopped talking, mouth still open for another word and looking at Annan suspiciously.

"How about breaking the fourth wall? Like…like Rika in Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni?" Annan continues.

Connla looks oddly at her upon the phrase 'breaking the fourth wall'.

After a few moments of openmouthed silence, Ebisu continues talking, in a tone of denial.

"No. No, no, no-" he says, to be interrupted by Annan.

"But according to what you said, it appears that is the case-"

"I can accept that I am the product of the imagination of man, there is evidence of that for everything supernatural. However, I refuse to believe that the entire world I live in is the product of the fantasy of someone from your world D-cup."

…what the hell.

What. The. Hell.

"Hey. We once speculated this might happen, after all we are all proof that many-worlds theory is correct, no?"

She points to herself, to us, and then upwards for some reason.

Why upwards?

"Speculation. Speculation in our first get together eight years ago, drinking bottle after bottle of mead and sake along with the other supernatural friends of otaku ilk from different worlds. Not actual…proof."

He says the word proof in a faint voice.

"Ebisu, dear? Can you explain to me just what is it that you and Annan are talking about?" Waka-ush asks him.

Ebisu looks at her, and then at Annan in desperation, with the kind of look one gives when asking for help.

Help arrives from an unexpected quarter.

"Your holiness, I think what Annan and Ebisu are talking about is this. The situation that was covered up by the lower rank kami that you helped capture is the setting of something fictional in Annan's world." Juri answers Waka-ush's question.

Waka-ush looks at her, and then at Ebisu and Annan with a face that says 'Really?'

Both nod at her.

"And what fictional medium is the situation based on? Novels?Anime? Manga?" she asks.

"Corpse Party Blood Covered is one of the most famous dojin games ever made for the PC-98 series-"

"NEC's cash cow? That computer I have at home?"

"Ye- what?" Annan asked, blinking in confusion.

"I bought one eight years ago, as a birthday present for my husband." Waka-ush admits with a smile.

Annan looks at both of them and then shakes her head, getting back on topic.

"Anyways, the original game, Corpse Party, appeared in 1996, winning the creator 5 million yen for second place in a competition by ASCII Entertainment. It then next appeared as a Microsoft Windows game whose title is Corpse Party: Blood Covered in 2008-"

"2008? How can that be? It's just 2007 right now" I interrupt her.

"-in 2008," she continues, ignoring me "which I have the privilege of playing a few months ago thanks to Thalia, Muse of comedy who also happens to be a fan of manga. She resides in a universe that is 5 years in advance of ours. And as of three weeks ago, I received the sequel Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, released in 2011. And I finished it a week ago."

Annan then turns to me.

"That answer your question?"

I nod.

She turns back towards Ebisu.

"The basic premise of the franchise is the same as what you said, although it also showcases several bad endings. Tell me, what is happening to the kids that got out as of right now?"

"Well, Nakashima Naomi is believed to be insane by everyone else other than those who survived by insisting that Shinohara Seiko is real. Shinozaki Ayumi is delving deeper into the magical arts trying to counteract the magic woven by the kami's involved in the cover-up. Mochida Satoshi and Yuka and Kishinuma Yoshiki are…mid-level in their academics, worrying about Nakashima and Shinozaki."

"So Yuka is alive. Chapter 5 Real Ending then." Annan mutters to herself.

"Real ending?" I ask to myself in dismay. I then turn to the others of my own generation and before in that room.

"You guys still follow what they are talking about?" I softly ask while in the background the gods were talking to each other.

"Nothing regarding computer games. Otherwise yes." Thuc answers.

"I don't even know what a computer is." Javin said.

Yung Ho pretty much said the same thing.

"I…think I have my granddaughter, son and daughter-in-law to explain that to me…some time from now." Kojiro looks at the said people, who look at each other and…had expressions of wondering how to explain things to someone…old.

"I know the terms since I also played one." Connla raises his hand.

I look at him in wonder.

"What's the deal with that anyway? How come you learned how to operate a computer, and even play a computer game?" Thuc ask him.

Connla shrugs.

"Annan. I saw her assembling a computer along with Daesun and Ratri back when they were just new friends. I joined in."

I see.

Well, that's enough reason for me.

I turn back to the gods, to hear Annan asking what is the plan of the Japanese gods in dealing with the situation.

"The plan…the plan." Ebisu slowly said as if unwilling to release his thoughts.

"I don't like the sound of that" Annan replies to that.

"You shouldn't, Annan."

At Annan's curious look Ebisu explains further.

"Well…there is a big argument over it. Mixed feelings were everywhere, the kami were even taking sides to defend or put down those involved. Some did it for family shame, and some did it for friendship. My mother came in the middle of the interrogation. Then when it ended, she declared that she doesn't know whether to applaud the fool lower kami who started it for helping her goal…or to curse him for a hundred years for barging in to her work."

"Izanami said that?"

"Yeah. After that the assembly erupted into accusing mother that she orchestrated this event. She denied it and then asked the implicated kamis what they were thinking by hiding like worms and not trying to solve this thing."

"And?"

"The one who started it all said he had no other option. He could not seal the place away eternally since it was already very, very big by the time he discovered it. And he tried exorcising it once from the inside. And he said he almost never got out alive."  
>The last sentence silences the whole room.<p>

A god almost never got out alive? I thought a god isn't supposed to die, right?

Right?

"He then asked for help from friends and levered favors from others. They went in there as a group, and again they barely managed to get out alive. What they saw inside convinced them that exorcising human souls is an impossible task if the souls can't get out of that place. And it is much more of an impossible task when they are outnumbered by enough grudge bearing ghosts to form a private army. They then tried sealing the place away even further from reality but it only ended up making things worse since now they, and by extension any other kami, can't even get back into the place to try again…and in the meantime that place is still getting more victims."

"Ouch." Annan whispers with a wince.

"Scared of what they had done by turning a previously accessible place into an inaccessible one, and rightfully thinking that they are the ones who will be blamed, they started a cover-up of massive proportions. Or should I say the first cover-up in Japanese supernatural history. They wiped the memories of everyone involved and erased their own spiritual tracks to hide that there was ever a problem there in the first place. They even set up wards to hide it from any other kami's notice."

I shake my head at the ass-covering assholes. I honestly expected that bureaucrats in another religion's heaven would be better than those here on Earth by virtue of being gods.

"So, now it is in the open. The full force of the Yamato pantheon, and possibly the Ainu kamui, is looking over the problem. What is their plan?"

Ebisu remained silent and looks down at the floor. His wife is just as sad and she reaches over the table to hold his left hand tightly.

We waited for a few more moments until it dawns on everyone there that there was no plan.

"What a fuck up." Annan says, quickly glancing at the corner of her eyes to Kojiro and his family.

"Kids are dying every day…some of them were entrusted to me by their parents…and we can't help them. We, the kami…can't help them." Ebisu whispers to himself.

Annan shakes her head and went ahead.

"Well, I feel bad for that so let's move on to other topics."

"Like?"

"Well, you still remember that favor I asked of you? And remember me asking three weeks ago how I can pay it back? Well…here I am and a retinue of bodyguards."

She points at us with an almost brilliant smile.

Ebisu stayed silent and dejected. Annan is left pointing to us in mid-air and smiling like an idiot, waiting for any sign of life from him.  
>"What is the condition again?" Waka-ush saves Annan's dignity, taking over for her husband with an apologetic smile at her.<p>

"It has to be something a human can do-"

"Something a human can do." Ebisu interrupts her.

He suddenly looks up at Annan, and then at us, his eyes brightened up as if his head suddenly had a storm of thoughts.

"Humans." he says while looking at us.

"Favor." he looks at Annan with a manic kind of hope starting to show on his face.

"Reel." he looks down at the most beautiful fishing pole I have ever seen that he is suddenly holding in his right hand.

He then looks up with a grin.

"Yur…orika…oh never mind. I have an idea!"

He shouted out, looking rejuvenated with a manic grin full of hope.

"I have a bad feeling about this" I heard Thuc say from beside me.

I nodd, since I also had the same sentiment.

"What is your idea?" Annan asks him, interested in Ebisu's idea.

"Your retinue could perform the Sachiko ever after ritual to go into the dimension where the school is located. In the meantime, us kamis will use them as the fish hook to pull the dimension the elementary school is in back here to the real world by the use of magic that is attached to them."

He ends his explanation with a smile, only to be met by silence from our group.

"There's a problem with that Leech man." Annan sais moments later while raising a finger into the air.

"What?" Ebisu quickly replies.

"It has to be something that a human can do safely. That's the agreement remember?"

His smile turns dim and his hopeful expression looked like it was poleaxed by reality.

"But some human kids escaped." Ebisu tries to complain.

"And three members of the group from Kisaragi Academy died in there. That does not count as safe Ebisu." Annan states.

"Oh." he finally says moments later, his joy gone.

Poor children…

Poor children?

…That agreement is because of me right?

Even without me, my granddaughters already had Ratri's protection from the curse of Annan.

…But at stake here is the eternal peace of hundreds of kids, no?

…Couldn't somebody else do this? It's not my job. It is not…

Something deep inside me is compelling me to ask a question that suddenly came into my mind.

I feel that I had the choice to refuse, and yet I am compelled to ask, knowing that I will make a decision that might result in death when I do ask this question.

And yet if I say yes to this decision I feel that I will be happy and joyful doing His…

…His work…and that He will walk me through the valley of the shadow of death, thus I…will not die.

Is this you, God?

God, give me a sign here.

"Annan, what are the souls of the dead doing in that dimension? Are they just trapped there?" I ask.

She looked at me sadly.

"They are trapped there forever feeling the pain that they experienced when they died, and driven to insanity by it and the despair of never getting relief from the pain. In short, they are in hell without being condemned to the everlasting fires of hell."

I close my eyes, while in the background I hear Annan mutter "What on Fiodh-Inis did I just say?"

I see…

I see.

God has called, and I…

I shall answer.

-

"You know, that was very unexpected of you Ward" Annan says to me while she is seated in front of me.

"Children's lives…afterlives are at stake here. You think I will not risk my life when I am in the position to save them?" I reply back at her, peeved at the disbelief in her voice.

"When you already said you want to return alive to your granddaughters? Well yes. I do think so." she said in a matter-of-factly tone.

I gritted my teeth in the face of her disbelief.

I never thought anything could become a pet peeve of mine in just a matter of minutes, yet here I am. Someone I dislike not believing I can do something so self-sacrificing, something good, irritated me more than anything else in my adult life.

"Don't underestimate us veterans, your holiness" Yung Ho defends me "Look at me. I admit I still hate the Japanese, but here I am going along on an exorcism to free some young Japanese souls from eternal torture they did not merit yet."

"Yet?" Thuc blurts out, looking incredulously at Yung Ho.

Yung Ho crosses his arms and says "I'm sorry. Never mind what I said."

"Do you hate these people that much?" I ask him, worried about Yung Ho.

"Herbert, please stop." Yung Ho pleads with me with a tired look on his face.

I concede to his request, but I swear I will talk this over with Yung Ho…someday before I return home.

I now look at the other two members of our group in our coach, seated behind me.

Javin and Connla are both staring in awe at the morning scenery that our train is passing by outside at the speed of 120 kilometers an hour.

We are currently riding a train towards a town called Kasamatsu in the province of Gifu two days after I made my decision.  
>That night, moments after I made my decision known to the gods, Thuc excused the both of us and led me to a quiet corner of the room. He asked me if I am sure of my decision while the others are looking in the background. After I had assured him that I am completely serious with my decision, he patted me on the shoulder and grinned.<p>

He then looked behind him and said that it looks like we have a mission.

Except for Annan, who still looks confused on why she spouted off something straight from the Bible, and for Yung Ho, who just grunted and looked away with a neutral expression, everyone else looked…like they are anticipating a victory that will inevitably come.

Other than Juri and her parents, who went off to sleep since they had jobs and a school to go to the next day, everyone sat up the whole night discussing and revising the plan that Ebisu had just cooked up. And then we, as in Annan's human bodyguards, slept the whole day.

In the end, the resulting plan went like this.

First off, the highest levels of the Japanese government, who will be debriefed by a possessed 6 year old imperial princess, will order an evacuation of the town due to something that they will invent, and at the same time a nationwide internet blackout will be ordered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to stop the inflow of victims into the place. At the same time the Japanese gods will weave magic so as to make Japan believe it and quickly follow orders.

After the town has been evacuated a ring of checkpoints is established by the Japanese Self Defense Forces outside the town, the immediate area around Kisaragi Academy will be cordoned off by as many human specialists that could be brought to the area as possible, with the provincial police assisting them in certain tasks. Needless to say, the Japanese gods will be present, disguising themselves from the police by intermingling in with the exorcists and psychics, who would doubtlessly know their identities and help with the disguises.

After that is where our party comes in. We will go into the grounds of Kisaragi Academy and perform the Sachiko ritual in plain sight of everyone there, while a metaphysical thread of magic is woven around us. After we had already been in there, the Japanese gods will immediately start…pulling at the dimension that Tenjin Elementary School is inside of, and bring it to the real world, where all the gods and the specialists will subdue the ghosts and bring them back to their senses.

In short, we were the fish hook, the gods were doing the role of the fisherman, magic is the fishing reel, line and pole. And the haunted elementary school is the fish.

"Are you two enjoying the scenery?" Kojiro asks from the opposite seat from those of Connla and Javin.

"Yes, elder Takayama. I have never been in the countryside of another country other than Letha and Eriu. There is…a different feeling to these forests, compared to those back home." Connla replied, looking towards the mountains.

"It should be. Japan and France are on opposite sides of the world, so the very trees must be different." Javin says while looking at the people we pass by.

"How about you, Mr. Lad?"

"What meets my eye here Connla, is how much humans can do to the countryside in…a hundred and fifty years after I died." Javin says.

He points at the mountains that we are passing by, giving special attention to the roads, the houses and the electric posts built on the mountainside.

"In my day no one would build their houses on a mountainside, and yet I see what appears to be a city that is built on the mountainside, with roads and rails and tunnels literally carved out of the mountains, and telegraph wires crossing over the mountains not far from the city."

"Does it marvel you?" Kojiro asks.

"It horrifies me! Where would you get wood if all the forests would be cut down for homes and roads wider than one needed? And are those houses safe where they are? No landslides, no wild predators lurking around those houses? A dense forest is not a sign of how firm the soil is, and is more a place that wild animals may be around. And the houses are built on the seaward side of the mountain. Would they stand strong in the face of a storm coming in from the sea?"

Kojiro has an awkward expression at Javin's answer.

"Oh. So that is what is bothering me." Connla mutters to himself as he looks toward the windows on the other side of the train. In the distance, the sea is visible by reflecting the light of a rising sun.

I softly chuckle in deprecation and looked back to my own window, looking at the scenery of the pleasing structures in the midst of the mountains.

-

We arrived at Kasugacho temple, a temple that is close to Kisaragi Academy around 11:30 in the morning. We were quickly introduced by Kojiro to the Shinshoku there named Momoi Hayato. It felt like he WAS not pleased to see us, human and goddess alike. Nevertheless Momoi welcomed us into his temple and gave us a vacant room in the temple's administrative office. After that, Kojiro said that he has to return to Tokyo, since he still has priestly duties do perform.

He did say that we will see him and Juri again after the plan had started, since they are among those who will be in the cordon. Before he left, Annan gave him three 10,000 Japanese Yen paper bills and three honest to goodness golden necklaces just like the one she is wearing as her show of appreciation for escorting us to Kasamatsu.

Kojiro thanked her profusely and left with a big grin on his face.

An hour after that, Momoi informed us that a room for dining in the temple is available but apologizes for the fact that he could not provide us food since his temple is short on funds. So we told him that all we need is a place where we can cook with fire since we had brought our own food.

He brought us to what appears to be the backyard of the administrative office, which is a garden full of bushes with flowers. There he gave each one of us a plastic chair and then he bowed down to us and went back into the building.

"Friends, do you have the feeling that this particular Brahmin does not want us here?" Javin softly says to us while he pulls out a mat from his bag, laying on top of it a napkin wrapped around something. When he unwraps it, it turned out to be a stack of flatbread.

"I don't think it is us Elder Javin. It is more likely that fact that he is living only a few hundred meters from a cursed site without noticing it. That would have made him look bad in front of his contemporaries." Connla said as he was looking at Javin's flatbreads.

"Then why is he taking it out on us?" I grumble as I open up a can of sardines and gives it to Annan.

At her raised eyebrow, I say "Can you please heat this up?"

She tak it in her hands, blew on the content, and then gives it back to me with the contents already cooked and hot.

I then offer the sardines to Javin saying "Here's some filling for those flatbread. I just want some, ok?"

Then something came to mind and I continue.

"By the way, do you also have unlimited food by way of a magical bag?"

"Why yes I do Mr. Ward. And I thank her holiness Ratri for it…Connla, do you want a Chapati?" Javin took one of the chapatis and holds it out to Connla.

Connla shakes his head, saying "No need to. Annan will give me the game that I will eat, right Annan?" he turned his head towards Annan with an expectant look on his face.

Annan is looking everywhere but at him.

"Right Annan?" Connla repeats the words again, this time with uncertainty in his tone.

Annan points up to the sky, where birds are circling around our position.

"You want some Japanese quail?"

I looked up for a closer look at the birds. And as Annan said, those are quails.

Suddenly a fast, flying object collided with one of the birds, bringing it down a few meters away from us.

Then another object went flying, to bring another of the birds down.

I look down to the source of those objects, to see Connla putting away his sling and the bag of stones into his backpack.

He then walks towards the dead birds.

"I think that is illegal." I comment.

"It would be illegal if someone were to say something to the Japanese authorities." Annan replies in a sing-song.

I sigh as Connla goes back to our chairs and starts the process of…preparing the two dead birds.

I look away and try to get back to the prior conversation.

"As I was saying, why on earth is Momoi taking his frustration out on us?"

"I bet it's because we are foreigners." Yung Ho remarks as he set about eating an MCI ration just heated up by Annan.

"Here we go again." I mutter while looking up the sky.

"Maybe that is the reason" Annan speaks up, surprisingly.

I look at her in surprise, prompting her to explain further.

"Well, many members of the Yamato supernatural world are…what do you call this…right wing nationalists. Anyway, those people would think we are outsiders who have no right to meddle around in 'internal affairs'."

"And Momoi's one of them right wingers?" I say in an incredulous tone.

How on God's green earth is saving tormented souls mixed in with POLITICS?

Jesus Christ, help us.

"Maybe." she shrugs with indifference.

I am speechless.

"Might we not make the whole plan go faster so we do not…offend these right-wingers more, you holiness? I know their like back home and believe me when I say you do not want to become their target." Thuc asks with a little urgency in his tone as he is eating Banh Mi from a Styrofoam package with a corporate logo of some Vietnamese fast food chain on the cover.

"Well…I'll check with Ebisu." she said, taking out her cell phone and calling him.

I quickly say my Grace and then finally start to eat, taking a chapati from Javin's mat, using it as a wrapper for a sardine the same way, and biting into it.

It tastes like that tortilla from that shop in Louisville near Annie's home, only with the addition of sardine and butter flavors.

The experience is spoiled only by the smell of blood from Connla's butchering of the quails. Speaking of which…

"That's fast." I commented.

He's already done with the heads, entrails and the skins of two quails in…less than five minutes.

"It is because I had a lot of practice, elder Ward." he proudly replies to me as he is washing the bodies with water from Yung Ho's canteen.

"Where are you going to put those entrails?" Thuc asks.

"Bury them in-"

"I'll do it." Annan interrupts Connla while she is texting Ebisu with her right hand.

She snaps her left finger and suddenly the entrails, heads and the blood on the soil of the temple sank down like quicksand, leaving a barren patch of ground. And then suddenly grass covered the barren patch, leaving no trace of the butchering done there by Connla.

"Thanks An." Connla said and continue to wash the quail breasts.

"Just cook me a good meal Con." Annan continues texting.

I see Thuc grin, hidden behind the Styrofoam container.

I also have the same sentiment.

-

After we had eaten our fill, and in my case said Grace again, an hour later, Annan informed us to the current state of affairs regarding the Kisaragi Accademy situation.

It was a FUBAR.

Less than 30 specialists would be able to go to Kasamatsu in the next seven days. Everyone else is busy with other exorcisms and other things. Fortunately that number would increase to around 1000 in twenty days.

The Japanese government however, is surprisingly making two demands in exchange for following the lead of the Japanese gods in regards to Kasamatsu. The first demand is that they want a 'closer' working relationship between the native Japanese specialists and the JSDF (which I interpret as 'draft into the JSDF') and between the Japanese gods of luck and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The second demand is the non-participation of foreigners, meaning our group in particular, in what they consider an 'internal matter' of Japan.

To replace us, they insist on sending their own people from the JSDF's Japanese Special Operations Group along with a Japanese god who wants to volunteer for the job of leading them inside.

A further complication is the Japanese Imperial family who were just informed about what happened to their precious child. Now they not only face a crisis of faith, meeting their supposed ancestor, but their child is possessed by a god almost 24/7, leaving the child's body only to let the child eat and sleep.

The mother and father had only been able to talk to the child during mealtimes.

…we choose to concentrate on the problem that would affect us.

"So, do we give over Annan?" Connla asks Annan.

"Are you joking? Me and Leech man have already agreed that this would be my payment of the favor. I can't see any way of renegotiating without breaking the agreement, which would be bad."

"How bad would breaking an agreement be for you in the first place? All I got is that something bad will happen." I ask in curiosity, remembering that topic during my first time meeting with Ratri.

Except for Javin, who seems clueless about the deal with agreements, they all looked at me in mild terror. Then they look at each other, seemingly trying to find someone to be the spokesperson.

After a few more moments, Thuc volunteers to do it. He turns to me and ponders for a while. Then he starts speaking.

"Imagine that you lied to your mother regarding the promise that you will not look into a certain kind of website again. Now one night you looked at one such website, again. Where do you expect your punishment will come from? How severe will it be?" he asks me.  
>"I think I will be banned from the computer." I answer.<p>

"No. What happens next is that your computer suddenly bursts into fire. In the process of putting out the fire you also get electrocuted and end up with a partially burned and permanently paralyzed hand. And before I forget, your house also burnt down, taking with it the houses of your neighbors."

What comes into mind from Thuc's story is this one event from the Bible. Numbers, Chapter 16. Dathan and Abiram rebelled against Moses' orders. So they were swallowed up by the earth, along with their tents, their wives and their children and their servants.

All of them dead.

…damn.

It's the Old Testament wrath of God kind of bad thing.

Damn it.

Thuc continues to speak.

"Whatever bad thing that will happen, it always comes from the object that you made an agreement for in the first place. And even with magic, the gods and spirits can only mitigate the damage. And worse, it is disproportionate AND indiscriminate."

…double damn.

Yung Ho suddenly adds in his own input.

"Don't worry Herbert. Us humans only die once. It's the gods that have to worry about dying permanently."

"Is that supposed to be reassuring?" I ask him in a flat voice.

Yung Ho nods.

That nod broke the camel's back.

I quickly turn towards Annan.

"Who are these Japanese, to stop us from doing the Lord's work? I say we go train as a group tomorrow, and then go into the Kisaragi hellhole the next day."

"And who is going to pull us out of that place?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Ebisu and Waka-ush?" I ask rhetorically.

"No, no, no. We already talked about this. We need more magic here. More Magic." She emphasizes the word 'more' by extending both of her arms to her sides.

"How about some more gods? Volunteers?" I suggest.

"I know Ratri and Daesun will help. And maybe they could bring their siblings here. But at most that would account only for…less than eight gods. We need more than that! But if I ask more unrelated gods to help, I would have more debts! More of them! What's the point of paying off a debt with more debts?!" she complains.

"Then what if Tokyo managed to convince the Japanese gods to use Japanese Special Forces? Where does that leave us?!" I am starting to lose my patience here.

I don't want to die here because of some unavoidable bad luck!

I want to die with my head held up high! Fighting!

"I don't know! I DON'T KNOW!" Annan is starting to panic, her hands curling up in distress, her eyes dilated and her hair starting to sway in a non-existent breeze.

"Well is there any other source of magic we can tap into?" I ask, feeling desperation coming on to me.

"Well, there are you humans but-" Annan suddenly cuts herself off.

She has this openmouthed look on her face that says 'how did I not think of that before?'

"Annan?" Connla asks from beside her.

"Human belief" she mumbles.

Human beli-

Thuan Thien and 4444th gun!

"Hallelujah" I softly mumble to myself.

"No, we need a lot of people to do that. Besides, who is going to contain or exorcise the ghosts once Tenjin elementary has been dragged into the real world?" Annan says to herself while massaging her forehead with her left hand.

"Why not leave a message for Ebisu telling what just happened? Once we have the people to believe in what we want to happen, the Japanese will have no choice but to follow the plan, or risk hundreds of deaths from rampaging ghosts." Yung Ho said.

"So we will make an accomplished fact? Won't the Japanese be angry with us for forcing their hand?" Javin questions.

"What if we had Ebisu smooth things out for us? After all he is the one who wanted this crisis solved by us" I ask, looking at Annan.

She thinks about it, with her hands crossed over her chest while looking at the ground. Then she looks up at me.

"On one hand Ebisu is a controversial figure in the Japanese Yamato supernatural world, with who he married and his very friendly ties to the Ainu. On the other hand, Izanami has been trying to make up with Ebisu all this time. She is just…a crappy mother to Ebisu."

I wince at the image that brought.

"If Ebisu says to her that this will bring them closer to reconciliation, Izanami will give all her support to Ebisu, and by extension, us." Annan continues.

Well, at least the mother is trying hard to reconcile.

May God help them.

"…yeah. Yeah. Ebisu can do it. Now the only question is, who will we get to pray and believe Tenjin elementary into the real world? We can't make more people know about the presence of the supernatural."

Annan went silent after that monologue.

Silence reigned in the backyard.

A minute passed.

An hour passed.

The sun is almost coming down and we cleaned up after ourselves.

"How about those survivors and the relatives of those who died?" Connla suddenly asks.


	12. First time shooting in anger in 37 years

Chapter 12

It is the night of April 21, five days after arriving in Kasamatsu.

We decided to get the relatives of those who died and the survivors of Tenjin elementary into the act, as the ones who will believe the school back to the real world, while the gods and the politicians were still arguing over things.

However since there are so many affected families, we decided to just inform the survivors first and let them, along with Ebisu and Waka-ush, handle the job of informing the other relatives while we go and enter the other dimension.

Annan believed that it is best to find Nakashima Naomi and Shinozaki Ayumi first. The first was because she could not get over her best friend's death and proved, according to this computer game of Annan's, willing to deal with black magic to raise her back to life, and the other girl because she was sensitive to ghosts.

So, with the help of Momoi, Annan searched for them.

But even with his help, she only found out the location of their houses a day ago. The goddess went there and asked their mothers, and found out they had already left for a place called Kishi.

This information had her panicking and saying 'shit' and 'Blood Drive's happening' over and over again. She immediately called Ebisu over, and asked him for help in searching for this Kishi, along with an estate there, belonging to a family called the Shinozaki.

After hours of frantic searching using magic, the internet and the Japanese government's records, they finally found out that Kishi is a place in the jurisdiction of Shimada city in the province of Shizuoka, more than two hours away by train from Kasamatsu.

Four hours later, after getting down from the train, we were quickly walking towards a faraway rice field where no one could see us. Annan stopped, and two horse-drawn chariots and an extra horse suddenly... appeared out of nowhere, with just a clap of her hands.

I rode with Connla, Yung Ho with Annan, and Thuc sat behind Javin on horseback. That chariot was not as bumpy as I thought it would be, even though we were moving fast over deserted dirt and pebble roads.

Around two hours after that we finally arrived in front of the Shinozaki estate, a two story mansion. It was already past sunset.

"Somebody is still living here?" I ask Annan in incredulity. She dismisses the horses, which run off into a cloud of mist and disappears.

The mansion is a wood and plaster building that had seen better days, with jagged holes in the walls, a corroded roof with patches of newer G.I. sheets, and covered by spider webs and wooden window shutters full of broken slats.

Meanwhile, the lawn is overgrown with waist-high weeds and wild flowers, the gate is very rusty, and the pathway was speckled bright yellow and green with mold. It looked centuries old even though the materials are from the 20th century.

The only new thing in the whole place is the padlock and the oiled hinges of the opened gate.

"No, but the Shinozaki family is still paying for the taxes of this property." She says.

"And they leave it…like this?" I continue.

"No. They are waiting for buyers. Unfortunately for them, no one wants to buy this lot even though the price is the cheapest in the whole town of Kishi because of rumors about the place being haunted."

"Then why not purify this place, you holiness? I would not have charged too high an amount for purifying a place like this when I was still alive. It would actually be a public service." Yung Ho asked while looking at the house the same way one does looking at the entrance to a VC tunnel system.

"The family tried to have it done once. The specialist's head was suddenly torn off from his body in front of the family's very eyes."

Everyone winces at the image.

"Also, there is magic afoot in this place. Didn't anyone notice that something has been possessing people around us to watch us the very moment we start heading towards this place?" she asked, making a nod toward the town that we had just come through.

"Wait, possessed?" I blurt out.

Then I look at the others in disbelief when they raise their hands in the way one says 'yes'.

"Hey guys, why didn't you tell me they were possessed? I thought it was just the small town mentality at work there."

"Because there is no need to be battle ready all of the time. You will just get exhausted." Thuc answers me.

"You're joking." I say in disbelief.

"Really, Herbert?" he looked at me and sighs.

"Yeah. What if those possessed people suddenly attacked us?"

"If it was an ordinary human mob, maybe. But one single spirit against a group of resurrected humans, a spirit given physical form, a goddess, and a human that had killed supernatural beings before, all armed with magical weapons?"  
>Thuc's answer made me think about it.<p>

…yeah, we outnumber and outgun one single ghost.

"I get Connla and Annan. But how come you three knew it was possession as opposed to a simple dislike of outsiders? And should we take arms now?" I asked, putting down my backpack and pulling out the Peacemaker's holster (which I asked Annan to make the day after we arrived in Kasamatsu), with the gun in it, while looking up at them.

"We were dead Mr. Ward. Even resurrected, certain things that one receives with death are still present with us in a second life." Javin answers while looking at me.

After that he looked at Annan with the same question about arming ourselves in his eyes. He is also pulling out his rifle from his own backpack.

"Get your guns and everything out now. The moment we step into that field we really are in enemy territory." she says as she takes her shillelagh out of her cloak with her right hand while two revolving disks of light appeared beside her left ear.  
>We all took out our weapons and ammunition out of the bags.<p>

As I pull out 'Annie', she greets me.

Hello again. Is it another day of practice?

The practice that 'Annie' is expressing here to me is when we all trained together for the last five days.

We taught the three heroes as much of modern combat (as we knew it from Vietnam) as we can, and then they taught us what battle experience they had to offer in return.

And what all we found out about each other in those five days was…interesting.

'No Annie. It's the real deal this time' I thought back to her.

Before she could express anything back to me she is interrupted by Thuc. "All right. Your holiness, Connla, Javin. You remember what we practiced?" Thuc asks them.

They nod.

"All right. We-"

He is interrupted by the sound of a car.

We all look behind us to see the headlights of an approaching car in the distance.

"Who is that?" Thuc asks in confusion and suspicion. We had seen absolutely no one in our two hour horse-ride to the abandoned mansion.

"Quick! Follow me!" Annan suddenly yells, making hurried 'come here' gestures with her left hand.

We quickly follow her into the lawn.

She looks to her left, and then back to us.

"Lie down in the grass and hide. Quick!" she says, pointing to where she wants us to go.

We run into the indicated area and went prone on the grass, putting our weapons beside us.

Annan, at the same time, stands up straight, stretches her arms out to her sides and started saying something.

"I, Annan of the island of trees, of the noble island, of the island before the ends of the world, declare that we who hide in the grass be hidden from all the senses of that who is coming here."

She slightly glows, clothes and all…no, the surroundings became less colored in contrast to her.

The grasses, most of them dried up and dead, suddenly become healthy and alive and as colorful as her. And they suddenly move to cover us the way a blanket does.

As for Annan herself, she jumps into the grass and lie down flat in it.

A few moments later the lawn is illuminated by a car's headlights. And then we hear a loud noise, the one a car makes when braking suddenly from a high speed over a rocky ground.

We patiently and nervously wait as we hear the slam of a car door and the loud steps on gravel of someone in a hurry.  
>Eventually the person comes into view, running past our position towards the house.<p>

It was a woman in her late 20's. She has a long ponytail, and is wearing a white, long sleeved sweater with a pink camisole underneath, denim pants and leather sandals. A faintly glowing blue crystal pendant hangs on her neck.

All of a sudden we can hear the screams of two girls from the house.

I flinch upon hearing those screams, while the woman runs even faster towards the doorway. Upon reaching it, she did not open the sliding door so much as ram it open and running her way in.

"Wait for it." Annan suddenly said while looking at the house, while her left hand is stretched parallel to the ground, as if blocking our way.

"Wait? Something's happening up there, Annan." Connla says, looking at her from the side.

"Waait for iiit." she says again, looking very intently at the house.

_What is this young lady waiting for!_ 'Annie' screams into my thoughts. At the same time the bayonet at my waist is emanating a feeling of anger and murderous intent.

A second went by, the screams continuing.

I grit my teeth.

Two seconds went by. The anguished screams grow louder.

I am at this point glaring at Annan, along with everyone else, both human and weapon.

Annan at the same time is staring with wide eyes and clenched teeth at the house.

"NOW!" she suddenly said.

We all leap out of the grass and run to the open door.

Suddenly everyone else stops while I am still running towards the door.

"What the-" I quickly look back at the others-

LOOK OUT!

-back to the door to see two crazed, bloodshot eyes behind the closi-

…

Darkness.

…

"You alright Herbert?" Thuc asks me. On the other side is Javin, plugging up his wineskin, which I assume is why my face is wet.

I begin to realize I am on the ground, and they are leaning over me.

"Did I pass out?" I say, feeling the headache that slamming door gave to me.

In the background I hear an explosion.

"For a few seconds Mr. Ward." Javin says to me.

Herbert are you well now? Is your sight okay? Can you stand? Annie expresses to me from beside me.

"I just have this painful headache 'Annie'. Guys, help me stand up, would you?" I ask, raising both arms upwards.

Javin and Thuc pull me up into a sitting position. From there I was able to stand by myself, grabbing 'Annie' along the way.  
>I look towards the doorway to see Annan…<p>

Shit.

Her eyes were literally glowing green and gold. Her long hair was blowing like she is only a few meters from a tornado. Her skin is both glowing and not glowing and her arms were stretched outwards from her sides. Her clothes too were glowing gold and green and white and the spiral vines were moving and moving and moving, across the fabric, across her skin, and out into reality.

I heard drums, beating in time with the song of an ancient tongue I didn't know but in my beating heart I knew that this tongue is what one line of my ancestors spoke in humanity's hoary past.

Before her is Connla, holding up his shield in front of him and weathering a fierce barrage of sharp, flying objects and...something invisible. And behind the two is Yung Ho, trying to aim his K1 carbine at something inside but not firing since Annan is in the way, not to mention the barrage of projectiles suppressing them.

"I cast away. I cast away. I fucking cast away those that are proving themselves my foe back to their abode. This I say in my name, Annan of the noble island!"

After saying those words, out of the window next to the door someone jumps… no. A vaguely human shaped, smoky shadow with the same eyes that I saw behind the door is thrown out of the window. It slams face-first into the lawn.  
>The shadow then grabs at the grass as if something is dragging it away.<p>

Yung Ho suddenly steps in front of it, aims his gun at the face, and says "You heard her holiness. Begone Jap." He promptly empties his magazine at its face.

The shadow let go of the grass, holding its face in pain, and is pulled away to the distance until we couldn't see it anymore by some force.

Then we hear more screaming from the second floor. Whereas before there were screams of pain, these were now screams of horror and sorrow.

"We've got to get up there! Quick!" I said out loud. At the same time the others pour into the house, Annan going last of all when she suddenly blocks my way, saying "Wait a moment, Ward."

"What?!"

"If you didn't feel the presence of that ghost before it revealed itself, you wouldn't have had your nose broken and knocked out in the first place. This is a liability I forgot you have, since everyone else here can do it. Now I'm going to make you able to see them."

She then held my eyes open wide with her fingers and…

"What on earth?!" I yelled, blinking my eyes.

She spat in them.

SHE SPAT IN THEM!

"What is that!-"

I yell at her, only to stop.

It did work as advertised. I could now see ghosts inside the house.

Teenage looking, pale blue colored ghosts were blocking the staircase in a standoff with the others.

"I thought you just cast away all the spirits that are in this mansion?" I ask her.

"I said 'those that prove themselves my foes'. They aren't attacking us right now." she said as she went ahead of me and walked over to the other guys.

_Semantics. She did not get them all because of semantics. Unbelievable._ 'Annie' thought to me.

'I agree' I thought back. When I reached them, I ask "Well, what now Annan?"

"Now? I take care of them-WOAH!" she suddenly yells while stepping backwards while at the same time she stretched her right hand forward.

A force field made of gold and green light, decorated with vines suddenly appears 5 meters in front of our group, intercepting a sudden rush by a new mob of ghosts on the staircase.

And then the attacking ghosts are suddenly dragged off the shield into the distance through the windows.

The ghosts that didn't attack yet looked shocked and confused as to what happened.

Annan taunts them from behind the shield. "I said 'those that prove themselves my foes', you idiots! You think that is only a one time spell, huh?" She then laughs at the end of that sentence.

'What is she doing?' Annie expresses to me.

'I think she wants to infuriate the ghosts into attacking' I thought back to Annie.

And I think it was working. All the ghosts scowl.

And scowl…and then they close ranks, forming a human barricade at all the entrances into the house.

"Well, what now?" Yung Ho muttered to himself, while putting his hand near the ammo pouch. It is clear he intends to clear the way with grenades.

"Your holiness, we are on a time limit here" Thuc grimly says to Annan.

"A few more seconds Thuc. A few more…" Annan softly says to him while she is smirking at the ghosts.

It was only then that I notice she is muttering something inaudible.

Suddenly she said one word:

"BEGONE!"

The remaining ghosts tried to charge, realizing they were somehow tricked.

It was to no avail, since they were dragged out the house by Annan's magic.

"Let's go!" Connla yelled, running up the stairs.

The rest of us followed him up the stairs.

"Which door is it?!" Connla asked when we had already reached the stair landing.

"There!" Yung Ho pointed to a door, with candlelight shining from the gap between the floor and the door.

We would have continued on and opened the door if only it was not shrouded with a black mist that, upon looking at it, makes you feel cold and feel its hatred…

… and right there it felt like it was saying everything that will easily make you angry.

No, not angry. That mist was saying things that will have you punch it as fast as you can and beat it to the ground, no questions asked.

"What kind of magic is that? And who is the gae saekki that made it up, because right now I want to shoot that person dead" Yung Ho says, his tone clearly saying 'can I please shoot this thing now? Can I? Can I?'

"I don't know who made it, but the kind of magic feels like it is made by someone sadistic with a very, very bad sense of humor." Annan deadpans.

She then walks toward the door. The rest of us are behind her, watching the door and the rear for any possible threats.

Once she is in front of the door, she spat on her palms, rub them against each other, and then slams them on the door.  
>The mist thins out, but it is still there, as if fighting Annan tooth and nail.<p>

Suddenly the cries of the two girls became audible again from the room behind the door, one of them crying 'sister' over and over again.

After a few more moments Annan turns her head to our direction.

"Get me an electric megaphone Thuc. I have to tell the girls to get out of the way. And Cha? Get a shotgun ready."

"You can't dispel it, your holiness?" Thuc asks her while he is rummaging around his backpack.

"Not fast enough. I'm brute forcing this thing already, and it's fighting back, a magic word for every two of mine."

Annan turns back towards the door with a snarl, trying to…push the mist away just a little bit more.

Thuc finally pulls out a small and brand new electric megaphone, with the price tag still attached to it. He then rummages around for a pair of batteries.

After he inserts the batteries into the megaphone, he hands it to Annan, who takes it with her left hand.

She then starts to speak.

"Shinozaki Ayumi! Nakashima Naomi! Are you two still alive in there! Hoooy!"

After a while, the crying stops.

"Is… is someone there?!" one of the voices yells. "Who…who are you?"

"My name is Annan, a kami from Europe. I am a friend of Ebisu, also known as Hiruko, also known as Kotoshiro nushi no kami, one of the 7 gods of fortune, who has heard of your troubles. I am a friend of your family. I am helping him deal with our mutual problem, Tenjin Elementary. You girls still with me?"

"Ye-yes" one of the girls yell. "Please! Help us! Let us out!"

"Alright. I want you two to get yourselves and Shinozaki Hinoe's body and head as far away from the door as possible. We are going to use magical guns on this door. Ok?"

"What do you want with my sister's corpse?" one of the girls yells, in mixed confusion, nervousness and suspicion.  
>"I'm a goddess girl! I can bring her back to life!" Annan shouts back. "Now please move away from the doorway. And before I forget, we are holding weapons so DO. NOT. FREAK. OUT."<p>

For a few moments the two girls are silent.

"What about Mayu?" the other girl audibly asks.

"That isn't Mayu, Naomi. It is just a faceless, lifeless lump of flesh and bones." the first girl…Ayumi replied to Naomi. "Well, you heard what the kami said. Let's move my sister there."

We then hear the sounds of something heavy being dragged across the wooden floor.

Then a few more footsteps, and then something lighter than the object before is put down on the floor.

"Alright Annan-kami-sama. We are out of the way already."

"Ok. Let's go Yung Ho." she says, moving away from the door.

Yung Ho takes Annan's place and put his K1 into his rucksack. He then pulled out a pump action shotgun (a Mossberg 500) from it.

After checking if the shotgun was loaded, basic trigger control, he then points it at the space around the door lock, intending to separate the door lock from the rest of the door.

"Breaching!" he yells and starts firing.

He fires three times, and then he kicks the door open.

Connla goes in first, followed by Yung Ho. Then, in order of entry: Thuc, Javin, me and Annan.

Inside is…on the side of the room to my left was a creepy feeling book, laying a meter away from a carved wooden circle with some designs, that had candles placed on top of the lines in instinctively important points and two paper dolls in the middle of the circle, one partly burnt and the other not.

Near that was the…faceless, lifeless lump of flesh that the girls mentioned earlier.

The body is distinguished only by the female school uniform it was wearing, as well as the small ponytail at the top of its head, tied with a hair band composed of 2 pink spheres. And the fact that it is covered in blood and the head, arms and legs are separated from the torso.

In the middle of the room is a puddle of blood, and from the puddle there was a trail leading towards the right side of the room.

That is where two girls pale with fright and soaked in blood were huddling close to each other and the body of the woman from earlier.

They look at us in fear.

The small, thin one on the left, with her hand on the…woman's head (which still had parts of the spine, as well as some blood vessels and muscles dangling from what remains of the neck) had long blue hair tied into 2 pigtails by red ties. And she is also injured, judging by the blood that is slowly but continuously trickling from her shoulders and legs.

The more fleshed out and uninjured one on the right, holding the rest of the woman's body (which also had dangling parts from its side of the neck), had black, straight, above shoulder length hair.

Suddenly, the sound of clothes dropping on something came from my left. Upon looking, I see it was just Annan finishing wrapping up the book in her cloak.

After finishing, she looks up at the rest of the room and says "Can't have the source of our mutual problems know what we are doing." at the same time lifting the wrapped book in front of her for emphasis.

"Annan-kami-sama…a-about my sister." the pigtailed girl asks in a heartrending tone of voice.

"Lay her on the ground, and place the head back on her shoulders." she says while walking towards them, at the same time she stretches out her left arm.

Suddenly, the puddle of blood…all the blood in the room, including those on the girl's clothes, disappeared. Only for blood to slowly start trickling again from the wounded girl.

The girls quickly followed Annan's instructions, placing the head of the woman on her shoulder.

Annan then kneels down on the floor and places her hand on the neck.

One moment the corpse is composed of the head and the rest of the body, the next instant it is an ordinary body that looks like it is sleeping.

The girls hug each other in joy, seeing that Annan can back up her words.

Annan then puts her hands over the woman's face…and then she hesitates.

After a few moments of indecision on Annan's part, Connla asks her what is the problem.

The rest of us are looking at her in concern.

"Well, so much for my first kiss." Annan loudly complains.

"Wait-What!" Connla yells, but he is too late to stop her.

Annan parts the woman's lips and then…performs mouth to mouth on her.

A second later the woman's eyes opened up in panic.

She pushes Annan off her and chokes.

A few moments later she manages to breathe normally. It was then that she was tackled by the pigtailed girl, who was crying "Sister" over and over again, while the other girl smiles at the siblings with tears of hope in her eyes.

You smell that? 'Annie' suddenly thought to me.

…something is burning.

Burning?

Aside from me, the others in the room had also smelled the burning thing, including the woman and the two girls.  
>They were looking around for whatever it is.<p>

It is the older sister who sees what the burning thing was first.

"Look over there!" she yelled in a hoarse voice, pointing towards my back.

When I whirled around, looking for what she is pointing to, I see that Annan's cloak had started smoldering.

It is also slowly rising up into the air.

"Oh no, you cursed Franco-German atrocity against magic-"

That was awfully specific.

"-you will stop burning my favorite cloak, you hear me! STOP BURNING IT!"

The book did not listen. Instead it burns her cloak into ashes in an instant.

Annan is pissed off.

She is shaking in anger, her teeth are clenched tightly, and breathing hard… like she just ran a race?

"Alright, you pile of recycled skin. You want a fight-" she takes another deep breath "-you got it!"

Annan glows bright, as a meadow does under the light of the sun at noon. Her hair stopped moving the way it had always flowed around whenever she unleashes her power, but this was a stillness that makes one feel that something dangerous is about to happen.

Something very dangerous is about to happen.

Yung Ho and Javin flank her, chanting in their own languages and holding not guns but swords.

Javin is standing there, chanting in his language at a speed where I can't distinguish where one word starts and where it ends, except they had one thing in common: something called a 'narasimha' is said between every other word.

And with his left hand he is waving his sword as if he is writing with it in the air.

And looking at him, he…he smells (?) like…like a lion I once saw at the Louisville zoo with Mary and the kids, while at the same time he smells like a man does after a day's hard work in the fields, under the harsh yet friendly glare of the sun.  
>Yung Ho on the other hand is dancing while chanting.<p>

He is whirling around, and around, and around on one spot of the floor while waving the stone sword.

And his voice changed to something…holy and bigger than him, his eyes still looked normal and yet at the same time they are glowing white.

And his was a voice that makes one think of the voice that echoes through the mountains as one yells from a mountaintop while the sun is starting to peek over the forested mountains, a voice that greets the sun and the land in thanks for just existing.

And then Thuc and Connla step forward as well…wait.

Why am I just looking?

I whirl towards the book and started making the sign of the cross, while holding 'Annie' by my hand.

"Our Father who art in heaven," I started praying loudly…no.

I am chanting, with something…something urging me to go on.

Go on.

"Holy be your name,"

I lose myself in my own prayer.

"Your kingdom come-"

"In the name of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, you are under arrest for the crime of murder! You will be treated with the due process accorded to humans by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by the authorities of this land! Should you fail to surrender or have the foolishness to fight back, you will be exterminated with extreme prejudice!"

Thuc suddenly shouts in a commanding voice.

He breaks the mood in the room, getting everyone, including the book, to look at this crazy man.

"Lie down on the floor and let yourself be bound or you will be destroyed! Now!"

He shouts, aiming the magical SKS at the book.

...his words are crazy and godless and...and...communist, but how on earth is Thuc making everyone feel that this is only an ordinary police standoff, and that the book really will be tried and punished under the law like an ordinary criminal, and that it is within his power to do so to that unholy abomination of a book?

I wonder about that while softly muttering the Lord's prayer.

I turn back to the book, to see...

...the book's cover has eyes and a mouth where there were none before, and is looking at Thuc.

And it is indignant, furious, glaring, hissing and snarling at Thuc's direction. Probably because it is irritated at the...disrespect just shown to it.

"You have 5 seconds to surrender!" He shouts.

The book stops its actions and start glowing. That glow makes the viewer, me, feel that the book had just seen red, and will start killing us, and that it is going to pull out everything it has to do so.

"4!"

I start praying again, this time bringing 'Annie' to bear on the book and cocking the cock, ready to fire on this thing.

"3!"

Again I feel that sense of being not alone, of someone or something beside, no, inside me as I chant and letting me know I am in good hands as long as I have faith.

And from behind me I sense several sources of feelings of holiness and righteousness and voices of chanting all starting up.  
>And this time, all of these...are stronger.<p>

So much more stronger than before.  
>"2!"<p>

Whereas before, looking at the book makes me feel that it is about to murder us with everything it has, now it makes me feel that it is quickly calculating its chances against all of us at the same time, while we are being empowered by faith.

"1!"

The book flies towards the window shutter at high speed.

I fire-  
><strong>An SKS fires two times- <strong>  
>A cast and forget force field places itself in the path of the book-<br>_A javelin flies past my head and inexplicably follows the book through the window shutter like a Redeye missile- _  
><em><strong>Two figures from the sides of my vision give chase with swords-<br>**_  
>-but the shot misses.<br>**-and misses.**  
>-but the book smashes through it and the window shutter.<br>_-but the book is much, much faster than the javelin. The javelin falls to the ground outside the house in the end._  
><em><strong>-but the book has flown out of the house before they have taken their third step.<strong>_

"It ran like a coward." Annan comments in amazement.

We cheer at this achievement.

A few moments later that cheer suddenly died upon hearing the house suddenly...creaking. And then suddenly something made of wood, somewhere in the house, snaps.

It is followed by another one, and more sounds of creaking wood.

I know that kind of sound. I am a carpenter.

"What is that noise?" Yung Ho asks in a suspicious tone.

"I do believe that the house is going to collapse." I reply with a frown. At the same moment I draw the Peacemaker out of its holster and cock the hammer to a firing position.

"And the one doing it is that book." Annan snarls from behind me.

I hear people suddenly moving quickly. Among the noises are those of the pigtailed girl, who is grunting in pain.  
>Something collapses in the hallway. My guess is the ceiling.<p>

"The hallway's floor collapsed!" The fleshed out girl screams, while the other girl starts hyperventilating loudly.

Wrong guess. Oh well.

"Anyone has an idea?" I hear Connla calmly ask the others over the din of snapping wooden boards.

"I do." I reply.

I aim the Peacemaker at the wall separating the room from the outside world, think of the USS Iowa and pull the trigger.

The whole wall is blasted outwards into tiny splinters by one 16 inch shell, which explodes hundreds of meters away from the house, just the way I planned it.

The huge explosion momentarily stops the collapsing house, as if the one making the house collapse has been shocked by the explosion happening out of nowhere.

"We jump." I reply as I quickly put the Peacemaker in the holster and then run towards the edge.

When I reach the edge, I look back to see the others, except for Javin, pausing at the edge of the floor, looking for somewhere to jump onto.

Javin is quickly carrying the pigtailed girl in a bridal carry, his rifle slung over his shoulder and sword in its sheathe. The older sister is slowly and unsteadily walking behind him, leaning with one hand on the fleshed out girl's right shoulder, while the other hand is rubbing her neck.

…must be some side effect of being decapitated.

"Come on! Hurry up people!" Annan yells with gestures, as a luminescent green force field that is tilted towards the ground, appears in front of us,

I think we are supposed to slide down the force field from this bedroom.

"Pardon me, but how about her?" Javin asks, nodding off towards the older sister, whose legs are wobbling badly.

"Shibal." I hear Yung Ho say.

I look at him, to see him throw off his rucksack and rifle down the force field and run towards the older sister.

The older sister squeaks in surprise when Yung Ho suddenly carries her over his shoulder.

"Be careful!" The fleshed out girl scolds Yung Ho.

At the same moment that Yung Ho is turning around to snap at the girl, all the planks that compose the wall that divides the bedroom and the hallway snaps in half, and inexplicably flies into the house, as if pulled in by a vacuum.

Javin, Yung Ho and the girl quickly run towards us, panicked for their lives.

I did not wait for them and jumped feet first onto the force field.

Moments later, I land on my fe-

…

"Ouch." I say in a painful tone of voice while lying face up on the grass, clutching the back of my head.

The girl hit me right in the legs with her shoes, making me fall onto the force field and on her.

I-

'There's more!'

…

"God damn it." I curse from the bottom of…two other people burying me, I think.

I am quite sure it is Yung Ho and the elder sister, since what hit me in the face is a combat boot.

And God Almighty that hurts!

"Get off me, you idiots!" I yell through the pain.

Yung Ho moves off me, along with the elder sister leaving me finally able to get on my knees, get off the fleshed out girl and help her stand up, and glare at them.

But before I manage to let off one word the mansion collapses with an almighty cacophony of snapping wood and grinding porcelain.

I look toward it to see a sight that will stay with me to the end of my life.

The mansion did not fall to the ground. It is sucked into a…a flying ball of material as big as an SUV in size and as smooth as a billiard ball.

"…we could have been killed by that." I hear the pigtailed girl comment from somewhere to my left."

'Agreed' 'Annie' thoughts to me.

And then suddenly the ball of former mansion…pulsed with the sound effect of an electronic beep.

"What now?" Connla says, in a cautious tone.

The ball continues pulsing with beeps.

"Is it just me or is that sound…familiar?" Thuc asks.

…now that I think about it, he IS right. It seems familiar…

"It's like the beeping of a time bomb in the movies." The fleshed out girl says from one meter in front of me.  
>A second of silence passes.<p>

"Oh Shit!" I yell, at the same time slinging 'Annie' on my right shoulder and then taking hold of the girl's left hand, pulling her along with me to safety.

In that same instant I glimpse Yung Ho carrying the older sister over his shoulder again. The only difference is this time the older sister is hugging Yung Ho's rucksack.

"Take Cover!" Annan yells from somewhere to the right and behind me.

A few seconds later all of us are about 9 to 10 steps into the woods that surround the Shinozaki estate when the ball emitted a continuous beep.

"Down!" Me and two other voices yell.

At the same moment I yank the girl towards the forest ground, and then throw myself on top of her.

Better me than her, if something happens.

A second later, an explosion happens.

-

I recognized the explosion as that of a fougasse, and the heat that I felt and the light that can only come from flames confirmed it.

A few seconds passed, and the fire was slowly dying out.

I was halfway getting off the girl when another fougasse detonation happened.

I immediately dropped down, again, causing the girl to let out a gasp of air.

"Sorry kid." I muttered.

"It's alright." the girl said back to me.

After a few more seconds passed, another explosion happens, and this time I had the novelty of being pelted by heated powder coming from the direction of the former mansion.

And another explosion happened.

Then another.

And another.

It is now around 5 minutes after that first explosion happened, and I count the one that just exploded as the 30th explosion.

"How many more petroleum does that ball have!" I hear Yung Ho shout from somewhere to my left.

"I don't think there is any petroleum there in the first place!" I yell back at him.

"Can we just crawl away now ladies and sirs?! I think the fire is getting closer!" Javin shouts from somewhere to my rear.  
>"And let the mountain burn down?!" Annan yells in outrage from in front of me.<p>

"What is it now kid?!" I shout back at her in exasperation.

"Annan of the island of TREES! Hello?!" She shouts back.

...well...that's understandable.

"How do you propose we dismantle that fougasse, your holiness?!" Thuc shouts from further beyond Yung Ho.

"You got that bag that connects to your country! Get a fire hose and start hosing that ball down!"

"I don't think water works with petroleum very well, your holiness!" I hear the woman shout to Annan.

"Then what do we do?! I'm still recovering from resurrecting you just now!" Annan yells back.

"I think we can let the Japanese authorities deal with the flames!" Connla shouts from a little ways beyond Javin.

We then hear the sounds of helicopters approaching.

"Quick! Crawl away or we will get caught by the Japs!" Yung Ho shouts.

"I apologize for my friend's words." I say with extreme embarrassment to the girl under me as I roll over from above her.

"What does he have against us Japanese?" the fleshed out girl asks as she starts crawling forward.

"He is a Korean." I reply.

"Korean...why are they still so angry for what happened in the past?" She asks in a mystified tone.

"FUCK! YOU!" I hear Yung Ho curse the girl beside me with a voice filled by extreme outrage, disbelief and horror.

The girl beside me flinches. And then she crawls onwards with a sad face.

...I am getting the feeling that Yung Ho's racist attitude is not something taught to him, but something personal.

...God, please help my friend.

-

By the time we reach the foot of other side of the mountain, daylight is illuminating the sky over the mountains to the east.

Behind us, we can hear the magical fougasse still exploding up to this moment, with the addition of dozens of helicopters and fire truck sirens added to the cacophony.

A hundred meters in front of us, another road can be seen through the woods, winding through another valley, and on it we see families being evacuated from their homes by the police, bringing along with them whatever belongings they consider valuable enough on their cars and trucks.

"What have we done?" I hear the fleshed out girl audibly mutters from beside me in a guilt ridden voice.

I suddenly have this urge to look at the other girl. Upon doing so, I see her face also full of shame and guilt, while her older sister's hands are on her shoulder, looking at the same scene with sadness.

"You girls went to a haunted house without protection or backup. Frankly, the fact that your misadventure only ended up with an unintended terrorist attack is a miracle." Yung Ho gruffly replies to her.

The girls look shocked and extremely worried at being pointed out as terrorists. The woman, on the other hand, glares at Yung Ho.

"Pardon me, but is there anything else that is going to come out of your mouth that is not insulting?" she says in a polite voice that is filled with steel and ice.

"Yes there is. But that is reserved for those that did not just denigrate the past. Or professionals."

The woman's glare turns absolutely venomous when the last few words are uttered, which Yung Ho answers with an amused look in his eyes.

I step between them to stop a fight from breaking out.

"Ok people. That's enough. You," I point my right index finger at Yung Ho "stop baiting for a fight. You," I look at the woman "you know you can choose to ignore him. Now," I look back and forth between the two of them "we are going to walk away from each other and then ignore each other, as much as possible, for the rest of the trip. Understand?" I say in the same tone of voice I used to break up my children's fights.

A few moments passed…

Thank God they follow what I just suggested, Yung Ho moving left and the Japanese moving to the right.

At that same moment I notice that Annan is saying something with her hands stretched out to her sides, but I only hear the last few words.

"-that we be unseen, unheard and avoided by the other humans."

And again that feeling that I now associate with magic comes over me.

Shaking off that sensation, I move towards Yung Ho and ask him something about his antagonism as the whole group walks through the forest, towards the road.

"Do you mind if I ask you something personal?"

He stops, and then looks at me from the side.

Someone claps me on my shoulder.

I whirl around, to see Thuc looking at me sadly and shaking his head in negation.

"Wha-"

"Don't ask him Herbert. Trust me, don't."

I blink in surprise, not expecting someone defending Yung Ho's actions.

"Is it something that gives one the right to always act antagonistic towards a particular group of people, all the time?" I answer back while navigating my way through some steep slopes.

"Yes." I hear Yung Ho growl.

When I look back at him, I see him glaring at the ground, as if remembering something bad.

…not just one of them, but a lot of them.

…

"Yung Ho, that's not-"

"This nation took away something from me, and then to add insult to injury it gave me a curse that would not let go off me. Not even being the apprentice of the most powerful mudang in Gyeongsangnam-do would let those-"

Yung Ho cuts himself off with a hiss.

"Those?" I ask.

Yung Ho shakes his head, refusing to say anything further.

I look at Thuc, wanting something more.

Thuc looks at Yung Ho, and then back to me, and at Yung Ho again.

After a moment of consideration, he gives off something that eases my curiosity.

"Trust me when I say that Yung Ho's description of his situation is accurate. I have only heard of his…situation in regards to the legacy of some Americans in Saigon."

…ok. That narrows the field somehow.

What did us Yanks leave in Vietnam as a legacy?

…there's Agent Orange for one…but that's in the countryside...unexploded ordnance is another…no not those, he said only left by some Americans. Both sides left those everywhere...but Saigon?

What would be left as a legacy by only some Yanks in Saigon? Only notable places in Saigon that I could-

I immediately stop my train of thought and do everything in my power to act like I am still mystified.

I realize what that legacy is, and agree that it is cruel for someone who is born immediately after World War 2, especially when it appears that the people who Yung Ho referred to with "Those" are probably his neighbors.

I return my attention back to the two, to see Yung Ho glaring at Thuc, who shrugs it off with his own stare.

I put on an act, for his sake.

First, I look intently at Yung Ho's face. This act has him stop walking and look at me in suspense.

After a moment or two, I shake my head, at the same time saying "Nah. Couldn't be."

Yung Ho silently lets out a breath of relief.

I continue.

"Whatever the reason is, whatever is bedeviling you up till now, just know that you've got a friend with me...with us," I nod my head towards Thuc "and you can talk with us anytime you want."

Yung Ho looks at me for a few moments.

"Anytime." I repeat.

After a few more moments, Yung Ho finally says something.

" I wish had friends like you when I was young. Unfortunately, after this job is over, I don't think we will see each other again."

I blink.

"Stupid kid." Thuc suddenly scolds Yung Ho.

Yung Ho looks taken aback by his words.

"We ARE dead. That means we don't need passports or money to travel around the world."

Yung Ho looks confused.

I also can't help voicing out my own question.

"Wait, are you saying ghosts can travel away from their haunting places?"

"No. But souls that have gone on to their respective afterlives can go visit other places." Thuc answers back.

"I didn't know that. Are you sure?" Yung Ho asks.

Thuc scoffs.

"I regularly travel the 30 kilometers between my house and the military base as a ghost. I know what I'm saying."

Yung Ho stares at him for a few moments.

Suddenly he looks embarrassed and walks away from us at a fast trot, not saying anything else. But there is one thing that has changed for the better.

He has a slight smile on his face.

Well that's one go-

"You've got a friend in me?" Thuc suddenly asks.

I turn to look at him with trepidation.

"You quoted from Toy Story." He slowly says with an amused look in his eyes.

"Well...it is an appropriate line for the situation." I defend myself, my cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

Thuc shakes his head, snickering at me.

-

A few hours later, around 9:00 in the evening, we finally reached Kasamatsu via train.

The reason it took us so long is because we had to avoid the various CCTV cameras in and around Shimada.

Annan explained to us that while people would not see us or hear us by any means, even if it is through watching a CCTV tape, that does not mean that a camera would not show people avoiding a blank spot that is moving through a crowd.

Now that the Japanese government is aware of the supernatural, they would quickly ask for help from specialists. And when that happens...we would be persons of interest for the Japanese authorities, eventually caught, and then get the whiplash from not fulfilling a contract while in custody. Not to mention avoiding legal liabilities for the girl and the woman.

That is a nightmare we wanted to avoid, so we decided to hike through the mountains. But this option presented us two more problems: The two girls and the woman are not prepared for this kind of mountain hiking, and we had no idea how to get to Shimada station without revealing ourselves to the cameras.

Thankfully Annan had called Ebisu, and explained the situation. Ebisu immediately sent us help.

The help came in the form of three mikos from the Keiju-Ji temple further down the valley where we saw the evacuation happening. The three then proceeded to lead us through hidden forest trails that head towards the north, ending at the locally renowned Chibasan Chiman-ji temple on the top of Mount Chiba. From there, we were driven down the road towards the northeast, passing through Fujieda city, to Shizuoka city by one of the Shinshoku at the temple.

We were then dropped by Shizuoka Station sometime after 5 in the afternoon.

Annan gave the Shinshoku fifteen 10,000 yen bills in payment for the gas used on the roadtrip. This made the Shinshoku blush and say thank you.

Later, after boarding the train and finding seats that are a little distance away from the other passengers of our train car, Annan proceeded to explain the situation to the three girls.

-

"So why are we needed to gather the relatives? I presume the Japanese government can do that for us."

Shinozaki Hinoe, the older sister, said while walking towards the Shinozaki residence in Kasamatsu minutes after we had stepped off Kasamatsu station.

"Well, it is because the government doesn't want us foreigners around. They will never involve you guys and the other relatives in this matter. It is even likely that they will simply just destroy the remains of everyone who died in Tenjin elementary."

"They can't do that! They can't!" Nakashima Naomi, the fleshed out girl, stops walking and protests.

This brings the whole group to a halt.

"Naomi, the government can do so in the name of public safety." Hinoe says to Naomi.

"What possible reason would make destroying the only things we have left of our friends be in the interests of public safety?" Naomi protests further.

"If I may answer that?" Thuc replies at the same time as Yung Ho saying "The answer's simple."

This had them looking at each other, Thuc in particular looking at Yung Ho warily.

I am also looking at him the same way.

"I would be a hypocrite if I supported destroying the bodies just to spite the relatives." Yung Ho casually says in response to our stare.

Thuc nods once to let him go on talking.

"Kid, forget about the supernatural being revealed to the world and focus on this question. How would the Japanese government look like in the eyes of the world when it is revealed that there has been an ongoing massacre happening under their noses all this time?"

"They would look...incompetent." Shinozaki Ayumi, the small, thin and formerly wounded girl.

She is formerly wounded thanks to Javin's Soma.

"And how many nationalists are in the current government?" Yung Ho continues.

"...Abe...Abe is far more right wing than any Prime Minister we ever had before." Hinoe admits reluctantly.

Yung Ho smiles, but quickly frowns a moment later.

"Wait a minute. You Japanese elected a right winger as your Prime Minister? Have you forgotten Tojo?" He asks incredulously.

"Japan is a parliamentary system. We elect the Diet members, they choose the Prime Minister." Hinoe replies to Yung Ho.  
>Yung Ho still frowns at Hinoe, but he moves back to his topic.<p>

"Since Japan is now headed by a right wing nationalist, it is reasonable to expect that the policy regarding this particular incident we are involved in, is one of not letting the image of Japan getting tarnished in the minds of those warmongers or the world."

"So the government will cover up the whole thing?" Ayumi asks.

"Naturally." Yung Ho answers.

They stay silent for a few moments. And during those few moments we all start walking again.

"If we do this...would the dead be resurrected?" Ayumi asks Annan.

"...I'm not sure. I could justify resurrecting your sister in that she is just newly dead and that I, a god, have decided that this is not to be. But I don't know about all the others. They have been dead for quite a while so right now they may have their places in the Buddhist reincarnation cycle or Yomi just waiting for them."

Naomi stops walking and sniffles. And then tears start trickling down her eyes.

Then she hides her face behind her palms and cries.

Ayumi behind her also cries, looking away and wiping her own tears.

Yung Ho's face twitches, and then he starts lecturing.

"You stupid kids. Do you think you are the only ones in this world who wants to raise their loved ones from the dead?"

Hinoe glares at Yung Ho, while the two crying girls look at him like hurt puppies do.

Yung Ho continues with a stern voice.

"My mother is the first apprentice of the most powerful mudang in Gyeongsangnam-do. Among the greatest of things that she and I learned, is how to bring someone back from the dead. Do you know what she did with it?...Nothing."

"Nothing?" Annan asks in surprise.

"Nothing. She did not use it to raise her mother, her father or her brothers from the dead. Do you know why?"

We are all looking at him, mesmerized by his story.

"Because sometimes...sometimes it is just one's time to die."

Because sometimes, it is just one's time to die?

"And when it is just their time to die...reversing that death is just...wrong. Too many things...make that act wrong."

"So you are saying that Seiko's death is good? Shishido sensei's death is good? Everyone who died in that place is...is for the sake of some plan by some fucking god up there so it is good?!" Naomi hysterically screams at him with bloodshot eyes-  
>Woah!<p>

She just tried to rush him!

She is only stopped by Hinoe and Ayumi tightly holding her back.

"Just the opposite actually. Evil happens. Evil always happens. And there doesn't have to be a reason for why it happens, all one can do is accept it, even if one has the ability to say otherwise and make it so." Yung Ho calmly says to her...with a tone of sympathy in his voice.

...God I thank you for your miracles. Thank You.

And also, thank you for the fact that we are on a street deserted of pedestrians, with only a handful of vehicles passing by each minute.

Naomi suddenly snickers, but her snicker is that of a person that is angry, hysterical and unbelieving of what just happened.

"That's your answer for Seiko? That's your answer for Sensei?"

She then outright laughs.

A moment later it stops. And she looks at him with the...the eyes of someone who is prepared to kill.

"Remove the spell that is erasing the memories of my friend from this world, give me the phone and cellphone numbers of the families of all those that died in Tenjin elementary along with a continuous supply of money for the bills to NTT and Docomo, and some more people who will assist me. I will have all the relatives here in Kasamatsu in seven days."

I comment on that last sentence.

"That's quite a tall order you are setting on-"

Naomi interrupts me.

"Seven. Days." She says, her voice full of the conviction that she can call every relative...that calling all the relatives is an inevitable event.

She then continues.

"I expect you to do your part to free my friend."

Naomi then turns around and walks-

she suddenly turns back to look back at Yung Ho.

"And now I turn your words back to you. Fuck. You."

This time she finally walks away. Ayumi quickly bows one time to us in apology for her friend's words, and then chases after Naomi.

"Smart girl. She knew what I want her to do, except for one little detail that she got wrong." Annan comments once Naomi and Ayumi are out of sight after rounding the corner ten meters away.

"What is it, your holiness?" Hinoe asks, standing where she is and looking at us.

"I just need all you humans to pray and believe that Tenjin elementary will go into the real world. No need to get them to come here and put themselves in the line of fire." Annan replies.

"I want to raise a few more questions before I take my leave. What are they, the survivors, supposed to do when the government does evacuate Kasamatsu and then brings in the specialists?"

"Are you one of those contacted to cordon off Kisaragi Academy?"

"I am one of the very first contacted by the Ministry of Justice."

"Don't you mean PSIA? This event is something that any country would like to be kept secret, after all."

Hinoe does not give an answer to Annan's question.

I presume this PSIA is the Japanese counterpart to the CIA, because they both have IA acronyms.

Annan smirks, as if she has received an answer, and continues.

"If you are one of those that will cordon the place, I think you could ask the government to let them stay in the area, since they are connected to this incident in the first place. I'll ask Ebisu to back you up on that request. But if that does not pass, then they could carry on with the prayers and believing from outside the town."

"Very well. But how long will it take for you to bring Tenjin elementary back to the real world?"

Annan looks at Hinoe.

"Our job is to be the hook. It is you, the specialists and the kami who are going to pull us, and Tenjin elementary along with us, back to the real world."

"So it depends on us?"

"Yes. Why? Concerned about the effect on your sister's education?"

"Ayumi is enrolled at Kisaragi Academy, after all" Hinoe replies in a droll tone.

Annan slowly facepalms into her right hand, saying "Sorry, I forgot about that."

"A last question, your holiness. When do we start?"

Annan looks up from her palm.

"April 23, 4:00 in the morning. This night? We're sleeping this night."

Hinoe bows down to Annan and says "Thank you and good night, your holiness." and then turns away from us.

Suddenly she turns back and asks Annan.

"Your holiness, are we still under your spell of being ignored?"

Annan looks at Hinoe with wide eyes.

"Oh."

-

_'Is this the place?'_ 'Annie' asks me while she is slung over my shoulder.

'Yes.' I thought back to her as I stand on the open grounds of Kisaragi academy in the early morning.

It is a 4 story, concrete building that is laid out like a square with overshooting lines when seen from above. Along the more notable features of the place, aside from the impressively big multipurpose playing field, is that all the rooms have sliding glass doors with blue curtains behind them.

And then there are the air conditioners.

A lot of them.

I presume that Kisaragi Academy is a private school for the rich, since it looks like every room inside that school is air conditioned.

'Back in my day we had to make do with no electric fans.' I thought to 'Annie' in some jealousy.

_'Don't worry. You now have the prerogative of lording it out over these kids when the topic does come up.'_ She thinks back to me.

Shaking my head and sighing, letting out a visible fog of warm breath, I look around at my fellow posse members.

There is Thuc, dressed green fatigues, an Ssh-68 helmet and green high top sneakers instead of the rubber sandals.

And he is suffering for his choice of attire by shivering in the cold morning air of Japan.

"I think you need an overcoat or something Thuc." I comment.

"This is nothing." He replies with a chatter.

Yung Ho interrupts.

"You aren't used to winter since there is no snow in Vietnam. We on the other hand have snow back home. Take Herbert's advice and get an overcoat Thuc. You're shivering."

Yung Ho, dressed again in olive green jungle fatigues, looks at Thuc with worry in his features.

Thuc only looks at Yung Ho, and asks "What is an overcoat?"

Yung Ho points to...

_'Redcoat?'_ 'Annie inadvertently thinks out.

...Javin?

Javin is a wearing a greatcoat in addition to the white turban, coat and pants. But of all things...the greatcoat is colored red.

"Why are you wearing a red colored coat? Isn't that...something British?" I ask him in a mystified tone.

"I like red." Javin replies nonchalantly.

...ah never mind.

"Annan can you give Thuc here an overcoat?" I turn to her.

Annan is not wearing a cloak this time over her shining gold colored, sleeveless dress, since the evil magical book destroyed it. This time she is wearing...chainmail.

And this isn't the kind of armor that is thought of by those with a fetish.

This is actual, functional armor covering her from shoulders to her hands and her mid-calf.

And she has also tied up her waist length hair into a big ponytail bun.

"You mean something like what Javin's wearing right now?" she asks.

"Yes." I answer.

She raises her right hand and snaps her fingers.

A red greatcoat suddenly falls on Thuc from above.

"I said give one, not drop one." I say in a droll tone.

"Sorry." She says, complete with a shrug.

I look towards Connla, seeing a glance of Thuc trying to wear the greatcoat in the process, to see Connla standing there with closed eyes, spear in one hand and shied in another, and murmuring what I feel must be prayers.

He is also still wearing the same tartan pants and brown shirt, while the cloak is nowhere to be seen.

I decide not to disturb him.

I then look at the Japanese who are a little ways behind us.

There is Hinoe and Waka-ush, both dressed in light jackets, long sleeved shirts of a black or dark brown color and jeans.

No one else is present.

The reason for that, when I asked earlier, is that Ebisu, along with all the other survivors and the relatives of their dead friends…had been drafted by Naomi into helping her call up all the relatives last night.

I then look down at myself.

I am dressed this time in a surplus DBDU, along with new socks, underwear and another Ssh-68 helmet I got from Thuc.

"Is everyone ready?" Annan suddenly speaks up, at the same time clapping her hands, to get the attention of the everyone.

After she determines that she has everyone attention, she then nods to Waka-ush.

Waka-ush starts speaking.

"You already know the general outline of the plan, but I am sure you don't know the specifics of the magic involved. I will not bother you with details other than that the spell that me and Ms. Shinozaki here will use to tie you to the real world…only works with living humans and gods. Therefore, you have to remain alive in there."

I don't know about the others, but I nod my head.

"For the spell to work, I need all of you living beings to spill your blood on this fishing rod."

Waka-ush then pulls out from nowhere the…most beautiful fishing rod of its kind that I had ever seen.

It is only a stick with a thread of sinew tied to one end, and a gorge made of bone on the other end of the sinew, but looking at it, I see a vision, of one man…

…ten men…

…hundreds and thousands of Japanese men dressed in different kinds of clothes from every point of time, all doing one thing: fishing with a fishing hook.

And when I see them finally catching a fish, I feel…no, I share in their exultation.

I then throw the fish into the boat/onto the shore and then promptly start gutting it with my flint knife/bronze knife/steel knife.

The vision finally ends with me blinking once and looking around with only my eyes.

Apparently that vision only took less than a second in the real world.

"And how much blood is needed to…accomplish spilling our blood onto it?" Thuc warily asks.

A sentiment that I am also feeling.

"Well, a few drops ought to do it." Waka-ush replies with a shrug.

Us living beings look at each other, and then grimace at the same time as we pull out our melee weapons, or in Annan's case, borrow Connla's dagger.

A minute later, I squeeze out three drops of my blood onto the rod from my left index finger using my right hand, and then quickly stretch out the arm to my left for Javin to pour Soma onto the bloody finger.

Annan then takes my place and drops her blood onto the fishing rod, as the last one to do so.

Once Annan finishes, Waka-ush steps back from us and stand beside Hinoe.

The two then both hold onto the fishing rod's handle in this…pattern is the only word that comes to mind: Hinoe's left hand is at the bottom, then Waka-ush's hand, then Hinoe's other hand, and then Waka-ush's hand at the top.

Then they both start chanting at the same time.

Waka-ush used another language other than Japanese so I did not understand them, but I understand those that are coming from Hinoe, and it is the following:

"I, Shinozaki Hinoe, of the Gifted Line of the children of the Great country of 8 islands, tie the blood offerors to this world with the power of all the kami of the land.

I tie them to live.  
>I tie them to survive.<br>I tie them to succeed.  
>I tie them to create a story.<br>I tie them to history.  
>I tie them to future.<br>I tie them to fate.

I do so, I do so, I do so, I do so, I do so, I do so, I do so, I do so.

It is done, it is done, it is done, it is done, it is done, it is done and it is done."

Just as the chant ends, I immediately feel my heart palpitate.

As if it teleported, my right hand is clutching at my chest, and I am left fearing that I am having a heart attack right this moment.

_'Herbert! '_ 'Annie' thinks to me.

…the palpitation quickly subsides, to be replaced by the feeling of my heart…

I can't describe the feeling of my heart!

"What on earth is that?!" I yell and say in shock at the Ainu goddess, who flinches in response.

"I-I presume that is the spell working." She replies in a tone of voice that is almost like she is asking a question.

"One of the words is live, so I presume that the spell is conceptually wrapped around our hearts, giving off the impression that someone tied ribbons on our hearts." Annan says in a deadpan voice.

Waka-ush just stares. And then she apologizes.

"I'm so sorry. The heart? Wha-that's bad right?"

"Can you even do household chores when you feel you are on the verge of having a heart attack all the time?" I reply.

She looks away for a moment.

"On the other hand, the spell is doing perfect in its job." Yung Ho says in approval.

I look at him, to see him looking down at his chest, as if he is seeing something…and his eyes are visible in the darkness.

It is like I am looking at his eyes in the middle of noon, but the fact is that right now it is 4 in the morning and it is dark outside, the only illumination coming from the streetlights outside the school and the stars on this moonless night.

"There is that. This thing is very fault tolerant, like an AK…Waka-ush, you alright girl?" Annan asks her with concern.

I look up to see Waka-ush leaning onto Hinoe, as if all her strength drained out.

"Fine. Just need to rest. Long time since I did that level of magic. You do the rest."

Annan looks at her for a little while, and then nods.

"Wait, we are just going to go into a magical hellhole while feeling on the verge of a heart attack all the time?" I complain.

"I could fix that, you know?" She pointedly looks at me.

…yeah, I forgot. Goddess.

Annan then turns around and lightly slaps Thuc on his chest.

Blinking, he then massages his chest, with a slowly growing look of relief on his face.

She did it to Javin too, leaving aside Connla, who does not seem affected and Yung Ho, who just breathes on his own chest, with…mist.

It seems to me that Yung Ho is quite the magic user himself.

Annan then approaches me and-

I glare at her for the light punch she just gave me to the chest.

"You need it." She says with a shit eating smile.

I shake my head at this.

After that, she then gathers everyone around her and then proceeds to brief us.

"To enter Tenjin elementary, we need to purposely flub this charm that I am going to instruct you. Once we flub it, we will…based on the games, we, and only we, will experience an earthquake that will split up the ground under us and let us fall into Tenjin elementary."

"Would the drop hurt us?" Thuc asks in a serious tone.

"Well, the characters faint from dropping and then wake up there...so I don't really know."

Annan frowns and starts thinking to herself. Suddenly she brightens up.

"Ah, let's do it this way! When the earthquake starts and the ground starts opening up, we jump into the chasm before the earthquake gets worse. At the same time we should close our eyes and prepare to land on our feet. This way we get into Tenjin elementary immediately ready to fight. Next is what is going to happen inside. All we need to do is stay alive, or sane in my case. But it is certain that we will have to fend off the ghosts that went wacko a long time ago…in our own…ah damn."

Annan immediately spits on her palms, closes them, and then chants something inaudible.

She then opens up her palms…and now there are 6 single piece headsets with those arms where the microphone is located.  
>The only difference is there is no jack, and these headsets are made of gold.<p>

Yes, golden headsets.

She gives one to each one of us, teaches Connla and Javin how to wear them, and then proceeds to speak to us through her own headset.

"Now we have a means of communication that would not be cut off by being in our own pockets of space. Otherwise, we would be cut off from each other until I forcibly fix the time and space in Tenjin elementary, which would give us away and have everything insane there try to kill us immediately."

I nod at the sensibility of this while I adjust the earpiece, making it so that it is only half covering my left ear.

I need to hear from my left ear as well in the first place.

"Now, to the charm. We have to hold onto this paper doll and then recite this phrase: "Sachiko, we beg of you." To succeed we need to recite that once for each participant, and then one more time altogether for Sachiko and then pull the paper doll apart. However, since we want to flub it…we only say that phrase once and then we pull the paper. Now, there are other details about the scraps of paper but our goal is not to escape, but to drag the school with us back to the real world so just…eat it."

"Excuse me?" I ask.

_'Did she just say eat the paper?'_

'Yes. And here is her explanation.'

"Yes. Eat the paper. That way you don't lose it, but also this paper I have? It's also going to give you a sort of…danger intuition."

Danger Intuition? As in Spiderman's "spidy" senses?

What a godsend!

"What sort of danger intuition?" Connla asks.

…I'm already happy with being given Spider senses. Now there are different types?

"Well, you would feel a sensation if someone is looking at you with the intent to hurt or kill you. And…that's all."

"That's all? Why not include being able to tell where the person is coming from?" I ask, feeling a little bit disappointed at the revelation that it is a less powerful version of Spiderman's senses.

"Keeping things simple. I want something that is too simple to break, especially when we are dealing with an evil, sentient, magical book."

_'I see…but that does not help with your stomach'_

'There is that.'

Before I am able to raise a point, Annan renders it useless by saying "And if you roll the paper into a small ball, it would turn into a pill. I hope that helps?"

…it helps.

"Now that I have explained everything…let's go!" She yells with gusto.

"See you in a few days Waka-ush! Drag us and the place as soon as you can, ok!" Annan cheerfully says to her in a loud voice.

A house dozens of meters down the street lights up.

Waka-ush weakly nods and then says "May everything well be with you."

Annan chuckles as she pulls out a pink paper doll from thin air, asking "Ebisu showed you Star Wars?"

"All 6 movies." Waka-ush replies with a grin, which has Hinoe looking at her in amazement.

Annan turns back to us with a smile, and then stretches out her right hand, holding the paper doll in it.

The arm is slightly shaking.

Most of us give her understanding looks.

Connla says something else.

"Don't worry An. I'm with you."

We each take hold of one part of the paper doll, and then we look to Annan and wait.

"Ok. On the count of three." She says with a slightly trembling voice.

"One." I start the count.

"Two." Thuc, Yung Ho and Javin says.

"Three." Connla and Annan says.

"Sachiko, we beg of you!" We all said out loudly, and then pull.


	13. Into the hellhole, with my bayonet

Chapter 13

After we pull the paper doll into pieces, we ready ourselves for the incoming earthquake.

It hits a few seconds later.

At first it was a slight shaking sensation coming from the ground, but as the seconds pass the tremor becomes stronger and stronger. And then a few meters from us, the ground starts falling away into a chasm.

A second passes.

I start to move towards the widening chasm.

Javin suddenly runs past me, with paper turned pill in his mouth and rifle in hand.

As he reaches the edge, he shouts out "Har Har Mahadeo!" in a shrill tone and jumps into it.

The next one to jump in is Connla, dragging Annan by hand and yelling "Veneti and Annan!"

Annan screams "Shut up!" with a blushing face before they both jump in.

By the time I reach the edge a few seconds later, I see Yung Ho and Thuc, who also reached it at the same time as me, looking in amazement.

"That's less hesitation than they showed before." Yung Ho comments.

"Forget it. Jump on three." I say, looking down at the chasm.

"Three!" Thuc surprises my by suddenly yelling, at the same time jumping in.

I don't know about Yung Ho, but I immediately jump in a second later on impulse and close my eyes.

"Son of a gun, that hurts." I moan, holding my nose in pain.

How did that happen?! I was falling down feet first! So why did I belly flop onto the floor, and smash something (which I presume to be made of wood) in half with my face?

_Herbert? _Annie thought to me.

"What?" I growl out as I sit up and look at my right hand.

Dear God there's blood on it.

I tenderly touched my nose, to find out that thankfully it's not broken.

_There's a corpse around 5 meters behind you. And the ghost is still in the corpse-IT SAW US!_

I whirl around, cocking 'Annie' at the same time and bringing it to bear on a…

A glowing deep red colored, basketball sized ball of fire 2 meters away from my face that instantly stopped once I had my gun aimed at it.

Suddenly I get the feeling that the ghost is raising both its arms in surrender, even if all I see is just a glowing ball.

In light of my experiences with magic, I take it as fact and react accordingly, to make the ghost think twice before saying anything funny.

"United States Army! Don't move or I'll shoot you dead!"

A few seconds of silence passes. And then the ghost, a female from the sound of it, speaks to me in a disbelieving tone of voice.

"Old man, I am already dead."

_She's right _'Annie' thinks to me.

…

Well, that's embarrassing.

"Well then…I'll make you feel more pain." I try to recover my dignity.

It is then I remember that the dead here in Tenjin elementary school have been feeling the pain that they felt when they died, all the time.

…won't that mean they are kind of doped up on pain?

The female ghost laughs hysterically, making me feel even more embarrassed. And then it attacks me.

It screams as I shot it.

Suddenly, the ball changes appearances.

Where there was a ball, there now is a screaming girl, of around 13 years of age and with a red glow around her body, rolling on the wooden floor in pain while clutching one of her breasts, from which a pale yellowish brown light is shining through gaps between the fingers.

...ouch.

…on the other hand, this shows they can be incapacitated by more pain.

_What did you do to the poor thing?!_ 'Annie asks me in dismay.

'She was a ball of fire. I can't see any signs of her body anatomy.'

'Annie' has no answer to that, but she still conveyed a strong feeling of disapproval.

…can't win them all.

I focus my attention back to the female ghost.

By now, she is whimpering and all curled up on herself while tightly clutching the breast I shot with both hands.

I bite my lip.

I look towards the door, and then back at the girl.

I let out my breath.

Why do I feel like a villain?

I pull the arm of my headphone near my mouth and speak into it.

"Annan, you there? Thuc? Yung Ho?...Anyone?"

"I hear you, elder Ward." Connla says to me through the headphone.

"With Connla. I'm just…doing something right now." I hear Annan's sheepish voice.

"I heard your shot with my own ears. I'm currently trying to navigate my way to your part of the school."

That accounts for Javin.

"I'm here with Victor Charlie, Yankee." I hear Yung Ho's voice.

"And I'm here with Kilo Mike." And that would be Thuc.

…I'm gonna ask them about that later. For now…

"A question. I just shot an insane ghost here, but right now she's whimpering in pain from the bullet in her chest. Can I restrain her and get that out of her chest?"

Silence greets me.

"Why would you take out the only thing stopping her from going after you again?" Thuc asks me.

"This is a dead 13 year old girl."

I take off the headphone and aim the mike at the ghost's direction, where she is still whimpering in pain.

I do so for half a minute, and then I wear them again.

"Now you understand?" I ask them.

"…you need to restrain her before trying to do something, just in case…" Yung Ho says through the headphone.

Before I am able to respond, Javin cuts in.

"Do not worry, I think I have some rope that can restrain her. Just wait there until I arrive at your location, Mr. Ward."

"I'll be waiting Javin."

"I will rip your eyes out slowly, and then I will rip your tongue out, and then I will rip your guts out...no, that won't-ouch...that won't do. I will rip out your guts first, and then your wee-wee, and then your tongue, and finally your eyes." The girl angrily curses me from where she is curling on herself.

"And again, without any sarcasm, I apologize for shooting you in self-defense." I boringly say to her while leaning on the doorway, peeking outside every now and then for any sign of Javin.

It has been fifteen minutes or so since I shot the girl. Three minutes after I shot her, she finally got used to the pain the bullet is causing her, and started cursing at me.

Since then, I had to weather the most disturbing vulgarities I ever had the displeasure to encounter in my whole life.

It's not the vulgarities themselves that are disturbing me. I heard worse in the Army and from the TV. It's the person delivering it, and the voice that is used delivering it changing in tone every few seconds.

One minute she was saying "May you and your whore of a mother be raped by burakumin," in the tone of voice you use to beg for kindness or mercy, the other she said "I will cut off your wee-wee and stick it in your mouth, and make you chew it," in the tone Mary used when she is putting Fiona or Arnold to sleep.

And in yet another minute she said she would like to play around with my dismembered limbs as I watch on, bleeding to death, in the same tone of voice as an honors student confidently reciting an answer in class.

All this, from a cute, black haired, 13 year old girl with two shoulder length pigtails done in the style of a girl from the Midwest, and dressed in a school uniform.

And this girl is glaring at me with eyes that belong to a drug addict.

"Javin, I am getting really disturbed here. How long is it going to take you to get here?" I plead into the microphone.

I hear a very quiet noise through the headset, a 'shush' sound.

I immediately go silent, hoping that whatever the reason he wants silence, I did not just give away his position.

A few moments later, Javin speaks up in a very soft voice..

"That was a close one."

"What happened?" I ask, at the same time as the others.

"A ghost just passed the hallway in front of me. Thankfully it didn't see me." Javin replies.

"Did you see any others?" I peek out the door and looking left and right for any other ghosts.

"Except for this one, none."

"That's strange…" I hear Annan mutter. She then asks him this question.

"What did the ghost look like?"

"It was glowing blue, a child of around ten years of age...and she is missing half of her head from the jawline."

"…Son of a bitch." I curse for the first time in quite a while.

I pray to God that I can leave this place untraumatized.

"That girl is Tokiko Tsuji. She kills her victims by beheading them." Annan reveals to us.

"Shibal." Yung Ho says out loud.

"Anyways, do you think you can get here any time soon?" I ask him.

"…I don't think so, Mr. Ward. I know your general direction, that being above of the floor I am on, but I have to navigate around these collapsed wooden floors."

"Take care." I lean back on the floor and look back into the classroom I am in, taking a look once again for anything else that is out of the ordinary.

The classroom is divided into two. The rear half is gone, the wooden floor board and everything on it collapsed onto the floor below. The front half is what is left.

The front half contains objects that are always present in a classroom, but presently they can be divided into two: those that do not look safe to use and those that are still sturdy.

Those belonging to the former are all the chairs and tables for the student's use, the platform that the teacher always stands up on, and the teacher's chair, which had already collapsed a long time ago.

Those belonging to the latter category are the teacher's table and the blackboard, on which some Japanese words are written in chalk.

…the Japanese sure know how to make their blackboards. And kudos to the carpenter who made the table. As a fellow carpenter, I could not help but admire his work.

The only thing out of place in the classroom…aside from the collapsed floorboards in the rear, is the corpse of the girl ghost on the other side of the blackboard and platform, laying in the space between the two and the wall.

It was dressed in the same school uniform, and has the same pigtails that ghost has. It has its eyes closed, the mouth open, and the position of the corpse is one of laying on its side, while curling around its stomach, the arms tightly wrapped around the stomach in death.

The cause of death is extremely unlikely to be from violent means, from the lack of any bloodstains around the classroom. I judge it to be starvation, due to the way the skin is tight against the bones and how the corpse is positioned.

…that's a nasty way to die. Thankfully, I'm not going to go the same route, what with having supplies on me.

I suddenly hear a shot from my headset. And then another.

And then Yung Ho lets loose several bursts of full auto fire, with occasional shots from the SKS heard in the background.

"What's happening there people?" I ask in serious concern.

"We just ran into a lot of ghosts here, Yankee!" Thuc yelled into the headset, making me wince in pain.

"Reloading!" Yung Ho yells.

Thuc provides some covering fire while I presume Yung Ho reloads.

The K1 barks with full auto bursts again.

Thuc stops shooting for some rea-

"Fire in the hole!"

I quickly tear the headphone off my ear.

I hear a very muffled explosion through the headphone.

"What's the matter? Did your friends run into something?" the girl asks me in a happily, malicious tone of voice.

I ignore her and don the headphone on my head as fast as possible.

"They ran away from an ordinary grenade?" Yung Ho comments in amazement.

"Must have been scared by the explosion." Thuc replies candidly.

"But they were charging two men who are shooting at them." Yung Ho counters in a tone full of amazement and…and some other emotion I can only guess at.

I offer my input.

"Maybe they thought that the guns are fakes?"

"Fakes? Really Herbert?" Thuc asks me amidst the sound of crying and moaning ghosts from the background.

"It is possible. I highly doubt these kids have even seen a real gun, what with Japan having the strictest laws about gun possession in the world." Annan says.

"…she IS our expert on modern Japan." Thuc admits.

"If I may interrupt, gentlemen and your holiness?" Javin asks us.

A moment passes.

"Well, elder?" Connla asks him.

"What are we going to do with the ghosts that were just incapacitated?"

"I do think it would help the others if we just tie up and gag everyone we incapacitate. That way the exorcists and the kami have less ghosts to subdue."

"An, I think we have more pressing matters to answer than what to do with our enemies." Connla suddenly says.

"Such as?" she replies.

"What do we do now that we have just gained the attention of everyone in this place?"

"Well..."

Annan ponders upon it, from the sound of it.

A moment passes.

"You have no idea either?" Connla asks.

"I hardly think we have gained the attention of everyone in the place."

"Are you sure An?"

"…no."

"Oh for the love of…" I say, looking up above to the ceiling above me-

To see the face of a ghost suddenly pass through the ceiling.

_Herbert!_

Before 'Annie' finishes shouting that to my mind, I already cocked her, and have her aimed at the ghost, all in just one move.

The ghost, that of a boy and glowing blue as opposed to the girl's red, freezes at the sight of a gun aimed at him. He then suddenly jumps back through the ceiling with a shriek of fear.

I move away from the doorway and put myself in the middle of the classroom's front half, keeping my distance from all the walls and the girl ghost.

"Annan, just how many ghosts are currently in Tenjin elementary?" I ask candidly.

"As of last count, a total of around 10,400 dead people in here, accumulated through the years when Sachiko started this thing."

…

"Can you please repeat that again?" I request in dumbfound disbelief.

"More than 10, 400. As of two days ago."

"And WHY didn't you inform us of this before?!" Yung Ho almost, almost shouts at her.

"Because I am confident that our arms and magic can scare the malevolent ghosts off, while we can talk with the sane ghosts."

"And how many of those ten thousand ghosts are sane?" Connla asks her in a tone that I associate with someone who is face palming.

"I am sure around half are still sane."

"That still leaves us incredibly outnumbered." Thuc says.

"We are heavily armed people, with magic of our own. We can take the whole school on if necessary." She says confidently.

A moment passes.

"Cambodia is a much safer place than this." Thuc mutters.

I agree.

I hear the sound of the bullet dropping down onto the plate.

A moment later Javin says "It is done." in a nasal tone of voice.

I turn around from my vigil near the door, to see Javin sitting on the floor, holding his bloody nose with his right hand and wincing in pain.

Beside him are the tweezers and forceps that he used to take the bullet from the girl's breast and the metal platter where he dropped the bullet.

And in front of him is the ghost, who is tied up with ropes that are glowing bright blue, and glaring at Javin in a drunk way.

"Javin, can that Soma of yours heal your nose?" I ask him in concern and guilt.

"It will. I just need to wash my nose in it." He says in a pained tone of voice. He then reaches for his wineskin.

I feel responsible for his nosebleed. How was I supposed to know these ghosts also have psychic powers, especially when the intel source on this place is in contact?

I should have asked before Javin started removing the bullet.

Thankfully, Javin's Soma suppressed her powers, in addition to the extremely unexpected side effect of rendering her drunk.

My attention snaps back to the present when Javin asks me if I have any plan on what to do next.

I look at him to see his nose is back to normal, and his face is wet.

"I think we should move out. This place is pretty much compromised to anyone around us."

I then take a look around the room.

…this is no place to fight with anything less than an automatic firearm, which neither of the two of us have.

"Do we leave her?" He asks, making a movement with his head to indicate the girl ghost, while grabbing a handkerchief from his backpack and wiping his face with it.

I think about it for a moment.

"Yes. I think the insane ghosts are…insane enough not to help her out if one did see her."

My headphone crackles.

"Are you finally done with your humanitarian project?" Yung Ho asks me.

"Yes."

I couldn't really blame him, this place is like a warzone...will become a warzone with us in it.

If this was a normal one, I would leave the girl to die. But the circumstances as they are demand different actions…thus my act of mercy.

"What did you do with your ghosts?" Javin asks from beside me as we both walk to the door.

"I cast a spell that is supposed to repel ghosts, and put it into physical form, that of a rope." Yung Ho replies.

"You…tied them up physically with a spell that is supposed to repel ghosts?" Annan asks in a disbelieving tone.

"Your holiness, I did not do that without a good reason."

"What is the problem here?" I warily ask as I start walking in the hallway.

"A spell that is supposed to repel ghosts…is for a ghost what an electrified fence or barbed wire is for a living human being." Thuc answers me.

I stop walking and put my left hand on the headphone, trying to hear more clearly.

"Come again?"

"Yung Ho tied them up with the ghostly equivalent of electrified wire fences." Thuc repeats.

"…Yung Ho?" I ask in dismay.

What on Earth is the guy doing?

"A rope blessed with holy water can be cut by a ghost if they use a sharp object. A spell tied around a ghost will not be cut or destroyed if they do not have any magic."

"So you did that just to make sure?" I look back at the room we just came from, wondering if the girl is trying to cut her ropes right this moment.

"Yes I did…I think so."

"You…think so?" Javin asks in disbelief.

"To be honest, I have to consider the fact that I do hate Japan, and…maybe deep down I might be liking this…I don't know."

Yung Ho finishes his sentence with a sigh.

Well, at least he is honest.

"Careful. You could become an evil spirit Yung Ho." Thuc warns him.

"I know." Yung Ho answers back wearily.

"No one is turning into an evil anything on my watch." I interject.

"What Thuc said is just a small possibility people, Herbert. There is no need to worry."

"Small possibility he says." I loudly scoff while looking at Javin and making a gesture towards the room we just came from.

Javin nods and stealthily walks towards the door.

I disguise the sound of his walking by talking loudly into the microphone.

"Whether it be a small possibility or not, I ain't letting that happen to a friend of mine, especially a fellow Vietnam veteran. We vets stick together! If it means I have to kick you in the balls to bring you back to your senses, then yes, I Will Do So."

I can feel the wince from all the men in the network.

"Why the testicles?" Connla asks me.

"Why not?" I answer back. "When you say evil spirit, you think of a spirit that is consumed with negative emotions. And it's common knowledge that pain of some kind is needed to snap some sense back into someone in that situation."

"Therefore, a kick at my balls?" Yung Ho asks incredulously.

"I think you are referring to drunkards, Herbert." Thuc says.

"What do you mean?"

"Pain of some kind is needed to snap some sense into a raging, violent drunkard."

I remain silent for a few moments, wallowing in embarrassment.

What is it with me and embarrassing statements this day?

Quick Herbert, think of something to say. Something…that's it.

"…evil spirits are drunk on negative emotions."

A moment later Annan and Connla laugh at my words, while Thuc groans loudly.

"I better…I better watch myself before you geld me with that…that kick." Yung Ho says, the sentence interrupted here and there by his snickers.

Thank God.

Looks like he is back to his normal self.

"TV Tropes, we now have a new entry to "Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!" It's called the Ward kick!"

Annan breaks down into giggles.

…resist it.

Resist the temptation to ask…oh forget it.

"What is TV Tropes?"

"Maybe it is something on the internet?" Thuc answers.

I shrug. Then upon remembering he can't see me, I answer.

"Beats me. That's why I'm asking."

"I don't even have an idea what an internet is." Yung Ho grumbles into the headphone.

"Mr. Ward, it appears Mr. Cha does have a point." Javin suddenly says.

I look at him.

He is looking at me with a frown on his face.

"The girl is trying to crawl towards the broken wooden boards."

A moment passes.

"Give me more rope. And some more of that Soma." I reply.

Damn it.

You do something good and someone inevitably abuses it.

"Well. That's that." I say as I walk out of the room.

"That is an excessive amount of rope, Mr. Ward." Javin comments beside me, while looking back at the girl ghost.

"If it keeps her from moving." I shrug.

"What did you do Herbert?" Thuc asks.

"Mr. Ward did not simply tie up the girl. He wrapped her in a cocoon of rope." Javin answers his question.

"Like a caterpillar?"

"Yes." I answer.

A moment of silence passes.

"If it keeps her incapacitated, why not?" Yung Ho says.

Javin has no reply to that.

"Annan," I ask into the microphone "what do we do now?"

"For now? Ultimately, we are just supposed to stay alive or sane while the kami pull the school into the real world. But we could also try to save the other people still living inside." She muses.

"Try? Why only try? Should we not-"

Connla suddenly pauses. A second later he exclaims "What is this room for? It reeks of piss!"

"This is the boy's lavatory. And we are going to get the help of a very pivotal character here. Everyone, cover your ears because this is going to be loud."

I quickly detach the headphone from my ear and hold it 10 cm. away from it, to no avail as I wince at the volume of a deep loud voice emanating from the headphone, saying "SHUT THE GODDAMNED DOOR!"

_My word. That is loud. _'Annie' deigns to speak to me again.

'Indeed…thank you for talking to me again.' I think back to her while rubbing my left ear in pain.

_I am still not happy with what you did to the girl. But since you did have the bullet extracted…I forgive you in the name of all women everywhere._

In the name of all women everywhere?

I shake my head and focus my attention back to the headphone (by wearing it again) as I hear Annan knocking on the door loudly.

"You bespectacled old ghost! Is that what you say to the people who are helping the Japanese destroy this school's curse, Shimoda?!"

I hear the noise of a door slamming open, and the man who shouted earlier yelling "What!"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Annan, former earth goddess of one of the European countries. I am a friend of Ebisu, who asked me to help the Japanese with this problem."

After that Annan stops speaking. The only reaction by the ghost Annan called Shimoda is silence.

I stop listening to the ensuing conversation upon following the turn of the hallway to the left, to see a gaping, impassable hole in the hallway's wooden floor a few meters in front of me.

"Quite shoddy construction the Japanese have here." Javin comments from beside me upon seeing the floor.

I look back from where we came a while ago.

The floorboards there are as pristine as properly maintained floorboards can be. I contrast that to what is in front of us, floorboards that are extremely weathered by time and rot, with some parts of the floor even collapsed into the story below us.

I look back at the hallway in front of us, wondering if the contractor did something illegal, to see Javin suddenly whirling around with a surprised look in his eyes, and his rifle at the ready.

_Look behind you Herbert._

'Annie' hurriedly says to me at the same time as I cock her and whirl around, the rifle ready to fire.

Only to see the hallway behind me in the same condition as the one in front of me.

"That wasn't like that a second ago. What happened?" I ask the two of them, staring in shock.

_The hallway changed like switching a TV channel, only it's too fast for even my sight._

"I just felt something strange suddenly happen."

I rapidly bring the microphone to my lips and ask away.

"Annan, any idea what just happened?"

"The hallways changed, right?"

"Yes." I answer while I uncock the rifle.

"The good news is that is supposed to happen. This place is tailored to mess with the minds of those who are trapped here. The bad news is, it is supposed to happen only when you are inside a room, and it is always accompanied by an earthquake."

"Damn it, your holiness. Are you saying your information is now outdated?" Yung Ho asks in slight anger.

"Wait one moment, I'm asking Shimoda."

"Can we go outside this room? It reeks." Connla pleads.

I stop paying attention to my earphone and nudge Javin with my right hand. Upon looking at me, I point to the classroom doorway to our front and left, and at its pair at the other side of the gap in the floor.

He nods, and follows me through the doorway.

We enter a classroom not unlike the one I first came into a while ago.

Unlike the first one, this classroom has a sturdy looking wooden cabinet with dust stained, sliding glass doors and a man sized broken hole in the floorboards in the left center of the room, while the blackboard is decorated with a stick drawing of a big man with scissors chasing three or four smaller figures.

And it's as cold as winter all of a sudden.

It gives me a bad feeling.

"I don't think we should proceed any further." Javin suddenly says.

"Let's try the-"

The doors suddenly slamming shut behind us cuts me off in mid-speech. It also cuts off any route out of the classroom other than the gap in the floor.

Which currently has red light shining through it.

"Ambush." We snarl at the same time, cocking and aiming our guns at the hole.

Damn it.

I hear voices through my headphone but I ignore it, focusing all my attention on the hole in the flooring.

_Duck!_ 'Annie' suddenly yells.

I duck just in time, for a red ball whirrs through where my head was a second ago, at a speed that is sure to kill someone regardless of a helmet or not.

I curse and angrily leap to my feet, whirling around and trying to get space between me and the wall so I can start shooting. In the process, I unintentionally smack the face of a ghost kid of elementary age coming out of the wall with the rifle's forestock. The ghost screams in response, clutching his face like the rifle is a hot iron, and drops on the floor, writhing in pain.

That's good to kno–

The skin on my back suddenly drags me off the floor, into the air…

"Fuck."

I twist my back in pain, feeling chalk dust on my skin.

My skin hurts. My spine hurts. Everything in my back hurts, and the only reason I am not unconscious is because of the helmet I am wearing.

It hurts like nothing since Vietnam.

Something just threw me across the room and into the blackboard, making a hole in it. And from the blackboard I fell down onto the platform, taking the chalk ledge with my butt in the process.

I wait for a few seconds, eyes shut tight in pain and breathing heavily.

In the meantime, I hear an occasional shot, and screams from the other end of the classroom. None of the screams are Javin's.

I wait a few more moments, and then open my eyes, to see Javin violently thrust his bayonet into a girl's throat, and then slash it out towards his left and out of the throat, into the eye of another boy. Both of them drop in pain, yelling incoherently and clutching the wounded parts of their body.

I slowly grab the cocked rifle lying in front of me, go into a crouched firing position, and aim at the ghosts still coming from the opposite side of the wall, all the while trying my best to ignore the pain in my back.

The effort to do so makes my eyes water a bit.

I breathe in, breathe out, and then shoot a pitiful ghost kid with no eyes. He falls down clutching his shoulder, crying for his mother.

I quickly re-cock, re-aim, and shoot another ghost , this time a teenager who looks half eaten by someone. He falls down screaming, clutching his stomach and hoarsely screaming "Fuck" over and over again.

Javin steps backwards over his form, withdrawing from a thrust at a girl's diaphragm.

I cock the gun again–

_Behind! _

Two ghostly, red and cold arms suddenly wrap around my neck and violently slams my head into the wall, making me let go of 'Annie' and sit against the wall.

And did I mention making me see bright lights?

I try to claw the skin off, but my fingers just go through it like jelly, and scratch my own throat instead.

_The knife! Use the knife!_ 'Annie' yells to me.

I quickly grab my bayonet with my left hand and stab one of the arms, eliciting a female cry of pain from the wall itself.

"How do you like this?!"

I cut down the length of the arm, making the ghost scream more.

The ghost finally let me go, to which I respond by rolling away from the wall, over 'Annie', and coming up crouched once again, bayonet in my left hand and the cocked back Peacemaker in the right.

More ghosts start jumping out of the blackboard and wall it is on, much like sweat appears on an active person's skin.

I quickly shoot one teenage girl in the face, and drag 'Annie' by her sling away from the blackboard's side of the wall with my left index finger, pushing chairs and tables out of the way with my rear.

Cock. Aim. Shoot.

An elementary student whose head was smashed open gets another hole in it for his trouble around three and a half meters away from me.

Behind me, shots and screams still ring out, with Javin loudly, fervently chanting a prayer that has a lot of 'Narasimha' in it.

Cock. Aim. Shoot.

A half foreign teenage girl with a slit throat gets her chin shot off at three meters from me.

Cock. Aim Shoot.

Another elementary school girl who starved or thirsted to death gets a hole in her diaphragm.

This isn't working.

This isn't working! There's too many of them! No single action firearm is not good enough for this mob!

Javin's voice is close to my back now, and the sound of it now immediately makes me stop backtracking.

It is no longer fervent. It is both something scary and reassuring. It is both something that gives me the confidence that someone is watching my back and something that urges me to step away from it and into the crowd of ghosts.

My mind tells me that if I take one more step I might, no, I will get stabbed, slashed or shot dead by Javin.

_Stick the knife on me and start bayoneting! _'Annie screams at me.

"There's no lug on you." I protest while shooting a girl, dead from a broken neck, in the chest two and a half meters away from me.

_Just put it near my muzzle. I will do the rest._

…seems I don't have a choice here.

I throw the Peacemaker into the crowd of ghosts, based on a suspicion I have from earlier.

Two voices scream in surprised pain, and then an empty space quickly forms in the crowd, centered on where the Peacemaker dropped.

In the time this happened, I grabbed 'Annie' with my right hand, and put the bayonet near 'Annie's muzzle with my left. And to my great surprise, the bayonet sprung out of my hand and attached itself by the handle to the ramrod, as if there are magnets involved.

But whatever 'Annie' did, it is much better than a magnet. The M7 bayonet refuses to move from the ramrod when I try to wiggle it, as if it was forged WITH the ramrod –

Here they come, some of them swinging wooden chairs around.

I rapidly move my body and rifle into the bayonet fighting position simply called the attack position. I barely manage to do so when a teenage boy with smashed skull starts to swing a wooden chair at me over his head, with two others behind him.

I parry it to my left with 'Annie's barrel and guide it down to the floor. With the same movement, I turn the parry into a butt stroke to his left temple, pivoting on my left foot and moving the right foot forward at the same time.

The boy goes down without making a word.

I instantly reposition for a long thrust to a surprised boy with a destroyed left eyeball, formerly to the rear left of the first ghost but now in front of me, who still has not even begun to swing his bludgeon.

I thrust the bayonet to the hilt in his neck, and push forward with my left foot to get out of harm's way from my current rear. To my surprise, the bayonet effortlessly slices upward through the neck, and the jawbone, and the skull, dividing them in half and making the boy scream the weirdest scream I have ever heard.

…magical blades are going to take some time to get used to.

The sound of something swinging through the air, tearing my BDU at my backside, and then smashing into the floor, refocuses my attention.

I swiftly pivot on both heels, and face a girl with a face smashed into her skull, in position for a short thrust to her diaphragm.

I quickly stab her there and withdraw, watching her crumple to the floor.

_Right!_ 'Annie yells.

I pivot to my right, away from the screaming girl clutching her midsection, and see a chair slowly swinging towards my head.

I do a high block, only for the blow to make me fall onto my rear because I got out of balance. Suddenly the ghost in front of me, a teenage boy with stab wounds in his stomach, is thrown backwards by a shot in his face.

Immediately after that a screaming, decapitated head of a girl is thrown over me and into the crowd of ghosts that are now looking uncertain.

"Thanks Javin." I yell raggedly while I stand up from the ground.

Javin just continues chanting, shooting and making ghosts scream in pain.

I then reposition myself into another attack position facing the slightly frightened crowd of insane ghosts, some of them staring back and forth from me and the decapitated screaming head.

I just stand there, breathing heavily, and glaring them into submission…oh God, the PAIN.

Now that I have stopped moving, the pain is hitting my back again, making my body want to twist and do something, anything for the pain to go away.

_You alright Herbert?_ 'Annie' asks.

'No.'

I grit my teeth, willing myself to not let any pain show on my face.

This is because I must look too bas-ass for them to deal with. That will make them think twice, and then see that I am too dangerous to attack.

I must be seen as such, if I am to survive.

_How about doing what you did in Cambodia._ The gun suddenly suggests.

'Which one?' I ask as I growl at an elementary kid whose neck was torn open by a slash and enlarged by bare human hands. The kid steps back fearfully, boosting my confidence.

_Chanting 'Our Father' and Psalms 23. _

I think about it for two seconds.

"Couldn't hurt to try."

I clear my mind of all other distractions other than the ghosts in front of me, my rifle, and my own body.

After doing so, I take a deep breath, and then start.

"In the name of the Father,"

Upon uttering the very first syllable, something in the air around me changes.

"and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen."

The pain in my back starts…changing. The pain before now was one that hurt me whether or not I moved, but now, it is not.

"Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name,"

It is…I am still experiencing pain but contrary to the definition of pain it does not hurt me. It is…it is… I am sharing in the pain of One who is infinitely greater than me, and by doing so I am participating in his work, leading to me becoming…better than before.

…purified is the closest description I can think of.

"Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done,"

The…purification freed me from the helplessness imposed by pain, and that allows me to start moving normally again. Towards the ghosts that are now unsure, nervous and scared of me.

And this is what I want.

"on Earth as it is in Heaven,"

A few ghosts suddenly have a burst of courage and charge me from the crowd of ghosts, yelling incoherent screams that make me slightly shudder, even in the state of being that I am currently in.

"give us this day our daily bread,"

I quickly shoot from the hip at a teenage girl in midstride, hitting her in her in the middle of her disemboweled stomach, and then slash right at the right arm of a teenage boy with a broken neck who was swinging a chair at me. The slash outright cuts off the arm from the middle of the upper arm downwards, making the boy drop beside the girl howling in pain.

"and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,"

Something suddenly smashes down on my left shoulder, breaking itself into pieces and sending splinters onto my neck. It hurt bad, really bad, but I did not sense anything getting broken in my body. In addition I feel the holiness permeating me increase because of the pain.

Slowly (relatively speaking compared to my movements before) facing towards my left like a slow, dim witted but furious giant, I look down at an astonished kid looking at me with an open mouth, in confused and frightened as to why I did not drop to the floor in pain.

I move my left foot between her two feet, and quickly butt-smash her between her bloody eye sockets, with all the power I can muster in my body.

The girl only has time to let out a squawk before the butt smash drives her head, and by extension her whole body, into the floorboards. And to my great surprise the floor gives in from my action. As a result, the girl falls headfirst through the hole, towards the floor below us.

"and lead us not into temptation,"

Seeing movement from the edge of my eyesight, I move my right foot slightly forward and lunge to my front and right, impaling a boy's neck to the hilt with a long thrust.

"but deliver us from Evil,"

Feeling more movement from around me, I twist the rifle and slash leftwards, out of the boy's neck, to instinctively do something I was never taught to do: Swinging a rifle with a bayonet by its small of stock using both my hands, just like Mel Gibson does with a claymore in Braveheart.

And doing so while calmly chanting Our Lord's prayer.

"For thine is the Kingdom, and the power,"

I feel the bayonet slash through several objects, as evidenced by yelps and screams of pain. But the only one that I actually see is when I slash through the breasts of a teenage girl with no tongue, cutting the two lumps of flesh into four all the way down to the bone.

"and the glory,"

A boy suddenly goes on a banzai attack, charging straight towards me armed with only his fists.

Something tells me that this is the time to do something outrageous. And it imparts into my mind what I should do.

When the boy is in range, I quickly let go of 'Annie's small of stock with my right hand, and suddenly drive my right hand through the the open hole in his skull.

And I squeeze. Hard.

"Forever,"

I take one final step forward.

"Amen."

I am now looking down at a pigtailed kid with a severed tongue stub who just comes to around the height of my stomach. To my right is the twitching body of the teenage boy, who is continuosly spasming, gibbering and leaking drool as my right hand is squeezing his brains.

Moments pass with me standing there, having a staring contest with the kid.

The air around the two of us feels like one that would be around a small pack of hungry rats cornered by a cougar whose cub the rats just killed. The rats can bite back, and if they are desperate enough, they COULD kill the cougar. But the cougar is very, very angry. And maybe a little bit hungry.

"Next." I hiss at her.

The two of us knows which one of us is the rat and which is the cougar.

The ghosts behind and beside her suddenly move backwards, away from me. Then the rout suddenly starts.

I hear shrieks of fear, multiple voices asking themselves why did they attack us in the first place, and the other noises that are part of the cacophony of a rout. I ignore them all in favor of staring at the girl.

Moments later, all is silent except for the groans of the wounded ghosts.

And now the girl who keeps staring at me is the only remaining ghost standing unhurt in the room.

More moments pass, with me thinking how I should put her down.

…I give up. I can't hurt this one.

She looks so pitiful. It's obvious she is scared dumb by me.

I take pity on her and point to the door with my right hand, letting go of the ghost that I abused greatly drop to his side, still convulsing.

The glow around the kid slowly changes colors, from red to blue. When the glow finally turned entirely blue, the girl slowly and shakily nods to me. She turns to her left and marches toward the doors, opens and closes them after her very, very slowly, in the manner of someone doing things in such a way as to not provoke anything.

I take several deep breaths, and look behind me to see Javin looking at me with an impressed look on his face.

"That is a marvelous way to end a fight." He comments.

I open my mouth to answer with a 'thank you'. But what comes out is something else.

"Ouch."

I squeak, and then faint from all the pain suddenly turning normal back on me, and returning with a vengeance.


End file.
